





u. 



If f 




Book IE3 — 



LETTERS 



TO 



YOUNG MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL- 



IMPORTANCE AND METHOD OF STUDY. 



BY NATHAN BANGS, D.D, 



Give attendance to reading 1 , to exhortation, to doctriue. 

X Timothy iv, 13. 

u Let the nature, reasons, and motives, of thy ministry, be ever 
in the view of thy heart and conscience." — Dr. A. Clarke, 



NEW-YORK, 

Published by N. Bangs and J. Emory, for the Methodist 

Episcopal Church, at the Conference Office, 

13 Crosby-street. 

Jlzor Hoyt, Printer* 
1826. 






In JSxchange 
Drew ThfKMov. 
5 Apl90l 



PREFACE. 

The following Letters were first pub- 
lished monthly in the Methodist Magazine, 
with a hope that they might be of some 
use to those to whom they were addressed. 
In the course of their publication, the Au- 
thor had the satisfaction to hear from 
many respectable sources, that they were 
well received, and were likely to be pro- 
ductive of good ; and since their comple- 
tion several individuals have requested .that 
they might be published in a small volume, 
so as to put them more within the reach of 
those for whom they were especially intend- 
ed. This was declined, from a persuasion 
that the matter was not of sufficient import- 



IV PREFACE. 

ance to justify the expense of a separate 
publication ; but this persuasion Was over- 
ruled by a vote of the New- York Confer- 
ence at its last session, by which the author 
was requested to revise the pieces, and re- 
publish them in a small book.* In com- 
pliance with the wishes of his brethren, thus 
expressed, he thought it his duty to make 
them as perfect as he could, by as careful 
a revision as his circumstances would allow, 
and thus present them to his junior brethren 
in the ministry as a token of his sincere 

* Since the above was written, the author has received 
the following Resolution from the Canada Conference : — 

" Resolved, That the Conference respectfully request 
the Agents to republish, in a convenient volume, the 
excellent course of study published in the late volumes 
of the Magazine ; at the same time wishing the author 
to make such amendments in the work as may to him 
appear most proper. 

Signed, William Case, 

Sept. 20, 1825. Secretary: 1 



PREFACE. V 

wishes for their welfare, and extended use- 
fulness as ministers of Christ. Several 
emendations have been made, and three 
Letters, one of which was addressed to a 
Junior Preacher, and published in the Ma- 
gazine, the other two composed for this 
work, have been added. 

In deference to the judgment of those 
who have requested their publication in this 
form, they are submitted, not without some 
degree of reluctance and diffidence to those 
for whom they were intended; hoping that 
they may be a means of exciting them to a 
"diligent pursuit of useful knowledge, holi- 
ness, and happiness. 

They now appear in the form of Letters, 

because the manner in which they were 

first published led the author to adopt the 

epistolary style of writing ; and therefore in 

1* 



VI PREFACE. 

the revision but little alteration in that re- 
spect was necessary. 

It is hoped that no one will suppose the 
author, in publishing his thoughts on this 
subject, intended to assume a lordly and 
dictatorial attitude in relation to those to 
whom he addresses himself. He intended 
no such thing. He has reason to lament 
his own want of a more accurate and com- 
prehensive knowledge of the various sub- 
jects which come within the range of theo- 
logical studies ; and a sense of this want, 
rather than from any exalted opinion of his 
attainments — that others might avoid the dif- 
ficulties with which he has often had to con- 
tend — induced him to commit his thoughts 
to writing. And it should be recollected 
that the primary object of the writer was 
not so much to teach what truth is, as to 



PREFACE. VU 

show how and where it may be found, by 
recommending some of those authors who 
have displayed it to the best advantage. 
His humble office therefore is, not so much 
to open the path, as it is to direct the tra- 
veller where to find it, by pointing to those 
more laborious and skilful hands, who, by 
their indefatigable efforts, have exalted the 
valleys, and brought the mountains and hills 
low, and who say unto us, " This is the 
way, walk ye in it." 

If this humble attempt should, in any 
measure, contribute to increase the number 
of faithful, wise, holy, and useful ministers 
of the Lord Jesus, the end of the writer 
will be fully accomplished. 

N. Bangs, 

New-York, August, 1825, 



LETTERS 

TO 

YOUNG MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 

LETTER I. 

Some General Remarks on the Importance and 
Utility of Study , for a Successful Discharge 
of Ministerial Duty. 

Br study is meant that application of the 
mind, in reading, meditation, reflection, and 
observation, which is necessary to enrich 
and adorn it with useful knowledge. In 
what may be said on this subject, it will be 
taken for granted that you have not now to 
learn the elementary principles of language- 
It will likewise be assumed that you are 
convinced satisfactorily of your call to the 
sacred work of the ministry, that you have 
experienced the renovating power of the 



10 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

Holy Ghost upon your heart, and conse- 
quently that you have not now to learn the 
first principles of religion. But if, indeed, 
you be destitute of that knowledge of God 
through Jesus Christ which can be acquired 
only by experience, all the study in the 
universe, even were you master of the whole 
circle of the sciences, will never qualify you 
for the holy work of the ministry. From 
these remarks it will be perceived that the 
observations which follow are designed 
chiefly for those who are just entering upon 
the sacred office. 

It was said above that you are supposed 
to be acquainted with the first principles of 
your vernacular language. But if you have 
been so unfortunate as to be destitute of 
even this degree of knowledge, be not 
ashamed to avow it, but determine to remain 
so no longer. By all means begin now : 
and that you may not fail in this first at- 
tempt, procure the assistance of some judi- 
cious friend, who, in a few hours, will give 
you more information on this subject than 
you could otherwise obtain in many days of 
hard study merely from books. 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 11 

Books, however, you must have. The 
philosophy of language is an extensive and 
curious study ; and the being able to deter- 
mine the meaning of a sentence from a cri- 
tical knowledge of its grammatical con- 
struction, especially where its apparent 
obscurity elicits controversy, evinces the 
importance of grammatical knowledge. And 
though too much stress may be laid upon 
verbal criticism in determining theological 
questions, yet to detect any fallacious rea- 
soning from such data, a knowledge of 
grammar is necessary. Murray will fur- 
nish you with enough of rules and illustra- 
tions. Webster, although the popular cry 
would lay an embargo upon his philosophical 
grammar, will make you think for yourself, 
and give you much useful information upon 
this critical subject. By all means read 
him. 

Language is the organ of communication 
between man and man ; and therefore the 
understanding of the language in which we 
must convey our thoughts and sentiments 
is essentially necessary for a successful dis- 
charge of duty. In reading, therefore, no 



12 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

word should pass without being well under- 
stood. But reading itself will never make 
man a master even of his own thoughts. I 
would have you, therefore, write something 
every day ; — write and re-write ; compose 
and re-compose ; alter, mend, retrench, 
and add, until it be correct ; and at first es- 
pecially, submit your composition to some 
judicious critic, with a candid request that 
he will point out every fault, whether in 
style or matter, which he may discover : this 
do until you acquire a confidence in your- 
self, and can compose correctly ; for I ven- 
ture to affirm that no man can be a good 
off-hand speaker, until he has brought his 
mind to a habit of close thinking by com- 
mitting his thoughts to paper, and has thereby 
learned to vary his ideas, clothing them in 
different dresses, and has also learned to 
amplify and analyze his subjects, until he 
has completely familiarized.them to his mind. 
One hour's labour in this way every day 
will be of more service to enlarge the mind, 
and to make you master of your own pow- 
ers, than many days employment in reading 
merely. It will give a sprightliness to your 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 16 

thoughts, by calling into action the latent 
energies of the soul, and enable you to 
spread your ideas before you in a systemati- 
cal order. I say then again, whatever you 
leave undone, neglect not to write, however 
blunderingly at first, and continue, until by 
a severe criticism upon your own compo- 
sition, you acquire an habitual method of 
communicating your thoughts in an easy, 
perspicuous, and vigorous style. Do not let 
a consciousness of your insufficiency pre- 
vent your utmost efforts, nor a failure in 
attaining your object immediately or as soon 
as you might wish, cool your ardour in pur- 
suing your path. Rather let a sense of 
difficulties induce you to redouble your dili- 
gence to overcome them. The steeper and 
more lofty the mountain, the more extensive 
will be your prospect, and the more vigorous 
your faculties, when you shall have reached 
its summit. I know a minister of very emi- 
nent attainments in literature and theological 
knowledge, of whom a great man said at the 
commencement of his studies, " He is like 
a merchant beginning business upon a capi- 
tal of sixpence." Diligence and perseve- 



14 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

ranee will overcome every impediment, and 
surmount every difficulty. On the first 
impression, therefore, of your call to this 
all-important work, lay it down as an in- 
variable maxim of your future life, that, in 
addition to the other active duties of your 
station, you are to be a man of study. 
Every science, the knowledge of which 
may enable us the better to understand and 
illustrate the sacred Scriptures, to defend 
and enforce the truths of Christianity, should 
be the object of our pursuit. 

Having made these general remarks upon 
the importance of having a correct know- 
ledge of the language in which we speak 
and write, and the necessity of a close ap- 
plication for the cultivation of our mental 
powers, in the next Letter I shall com- 
mence, if Providence permit, to point out a 
more particular method of study. This Let- 
ter, therefore, shall be concluded by saying, 
that a life of prayer to God, and a uniform 
obedience to all his commands, are essen- 
tial for every minister of Jesus Christ. This 
remark is made here to prevent any misap- 
prehension in the mind of the reader who 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 15' 

might suppose that piety is considered as 
only a secondary qualification. So far from 
this it is considered that the persons addressed 
are already regenerated by the Holy Ghost, 
that they are conscious of a divine call to 
the holy work of the ministry, and that their 
object in engaging in it, is to bring as many 
of the wandering sons of men as possible 
into the fold of Christ, and to feed them with 
the sincere milk of the word, that they may 
"grow in grace and in the knowledge of Je- 
sus Christ. 35 



LETTER II. 

The Method by which a Minister is enabled to 
Explain the Holy Scriptures. 

v That the mind may be successfully em- 
ployed in the pursuit of knowledge, the ob- 
ject should be fixed. What is the object 
which a conscientious minister proposes to 
himself? It is the salvation of himself and 
those who hear him. Every branch of know- 
ledge, therefore, after which you may seek, 
must be laid under contribution for the at- 
tainment of this primary and ultimate object. 



16 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

Now as the sacred Scriptures reveal the 
only method of salvation to lost sinners, the 
study of these has the first claim upon the 
attention of the ministers of Jesus Christ. 
Hence they are required to be " able minis- 
ters of the New-Testament." To be this, 
they must be competent to explain, to defend, 
and to enforce, the holy Scriptures. 

Without undervaluing, in the smallest 
degree, the luminous and learned com- 
mentaries which have appeared in our own 
and other languages upon the sacred vo* 
lume, and for which we cannot be too 
grateful, we say that the best expositor of 
Scripture is Scripture itself. To one that has 
never made the experiment, it would appear 
surprising how much one part of the sacred 
volume corroborates and illustrates the other. 
Every part mutually explains, supports, and 
confirms the whole. This being the case, it 
will be perceived of how much importance it 
is for a student in divinity to read this sacred 
book attentively throughout, and that with a 
continual reference and diligent examination 
of all the parallel texts and marginal read- 
ings, and that the meaning may be the more 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 17 

clearly comprehended, ascertain if possible 
the general scope and design of each writer. 
This method of reading will abundantly com- 
pensate the student for all his labour ; and it 
is such an essential part of duty, that he 
cannot hope to succeed in knowing the holy 
Scriptures, which are able to make one wise 
unto salvation through faith in Christ, with- 
out it. It is, indeed, only by reading the 
Scriptures by course, that we can perceive 
their connexion, mutual dependance, and 
admirable harmony. Even were we to view 
them as collections of historical facts — and 
they are certainly the oldest and most au- 
thentic history in the world — we must, in 
order to have an accurate and comprehen- 
sive knowledge of their narrations, begin at 
4he first chapter of Genesis, and proceed 
regularly through all the historical parts of 
the Old and New Testaments, without in- 
terruption.* This method will richly repay 
our labour, not only by enabling us to trea- 

* To complete the history of the Jewish nation until 
their dispersion after our Saviour's time, you must con- 
sult the historical Books of the Apocrypha, and accom- 
pany your consultation of these with a perusal of Pr> 
deaux's Connexions of the Old and New Testaments, 
2* 



18 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

sure up a knowledge of historical facts and 
incidents, but also by giving us a wonderful 
view of the providential dealings of God with 
many of the nations of the earth, and with 
the nation of Israel in particular. The same 
method of reading ought to be pursued, that 
is, regularly and constantly, with a continual 
reference to parallel texts and marginal notes, 
in all the other parts of Scripture, if we would 
ascertain the precise meaning of the Holy 
Spirit in these divine writings. 

To assist the student, when difficulties oc- 
cur — and this will always be the case more 
or less — recourse must be had to comment- 
ators of approved merit. And here we have 
abundant help. But it will be quite sufficient 
for those to whom these remarks are ad- 
dressed, to have recourse to Wesley, Coke, 
Clarke, Benson, and Henry. You need go 
no farther in search of commentaries ; but 
you may add Calmet's, Wood's, and Mar- 
tindale's dictionaries, Harmer's observations, 
and Fleury's manners of the ancient Israel- 
ites, by Dr. Clarke. Do not hastily run 
through a multitude of books, but thoroughly 
examine those you consult, that you may, by 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 19 

understanding their contents, appear to profit 
by what you read. It is far better to make 
yourself familiar with a few choice ones, than 
to rummage through a host of them without 
understanding any. A suitable variety, how- 
ever, on the same subjects, for the purpose of 
collating the opinions of various authors, will 
always be satisfactory. As a convenient 
text book, on a variety of subjects connected 
with theology, Buck's Theological Diction- 
ary will be a valuable acquisition to your 
library. In the mean time I must remind you 
again, if you would succeed, you must turn 
commentator yourself, and frequently write 
down your own thoughts, not, indeed, with 
a view to publish them, but for your own im- 
provement in biblical knowledge. 



LETTER III. 

Tliose Studies requisite to enable one to Defend 
the Sacred Scriptures. 

We have enemies to encounter. The 
revelation of God's word has been assailed, 
and continues to be assailed by malice, by 



20 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

ingenuity, by sarcasm, and in a word, by all 
the strength of human genius, learning, and 
depravity. This hydra of opposition must 
be encountered, and driven from the field ; 
not, indeed, by such weapons as the enemy 
wields, but by the armour of righteousness 
on the right hand and on the left. The 
Scriptures must be defended. 

To do this effectually it is indispensible 
to study the evidence of their authenticity 
and genuineness. This evidence is twofold, 
external and internal. The external lies 
scattered over an immense field, and must 
be collected from history, sacred and pro- 
fane ; chronology, a careful collation of the 
events and facts recorded in the book of God, 
with corresponding events and the same 
facts, recorded in profane authors ; from 
prophecy, comparing the prediction with its 
accomplishment ; from miracles, distinguish- 
ing between genuine and pretended mira- 
cles ; from geography, ascertaining the geo- 
graphical situations of the places, and show- 
ing that they are accurately described in the 
sacred Scriptures. 

The bare mention of these sources of 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 21 

evidence is quite sufficient to evince the vast 
importance of several branches of science 
to form the able minister of the New Testa- 
ment. It is needless to enlarge upon each 
of these heads ; but as it is the object of 
these remarks to assist the younger student 
in pursuing his studies, it may not be impro- 
per to mention a few of those authors which 
will help him upon each of these branches 
of knowledge. 

For history, next to the holy Scriptures 
themselves, Josephus should be read with 
attention, having the Bible always along side 
of him, that the agreement or disagreement 
may be noted. His account of the Jewish 
wars, and of the final overthrow of Jerusa- 
lem in particular, is all-important, as it shows 
the exact fulfilment of many of the predic- 
tions, both in the Old and New Testaments, 
respecting the destruction of the Jewish na- 
tion and polity. Next to him are Shuck- 
ford's and Prideaux's Connexions ; the latter 
especially should not be overlooked. As a 
compendium of ancient history, and as ha- 
ving a bearing especially upon the truth of 
Scripture prophecy, Rollings Ancient History 



22 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

is next in importance. To these you may 
add Tacitus, translated by Murphy, which is 
written in such an excellent style, that, while 
it adds to your stock of historical informa- 
tion, will give you a knowledge of, and a 
taste for, elegant composition. But if this 
be beyond your reach, supply its place by 
Goldsmith's History of Rome and of Greece. 
Though these are but compendiums, yet they 
contain much useful information in few 
words, and are therefore the more easily re- 
membered. Tacitus fully confirms St. Paul's 
account of the wickedness of the Heathen 
world in the first chapter of his admirable 
Epistle to the Romans ; and, without intend- 
ing it, corroborates the testimony of the Fa- 
thers of the church respecting the early ex- 
istence of Christians in the city of Rome, 
and thus unwittingly gives his suffrage to the 
truth of Christianity. 

While on the subject of history, perhaps 
it may be well to complete the catalogue of 
authors which it is expedient to consult for 
a general historical knowledge ; for I would 
have you thoroughly acquainted with the 
history of the world, and of the church in 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 2o 

particular. But here I am at some loss what 
histories to recommend. You have had 
enough of ancient history, unless you add 
Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the 
Roman Empire : but in reading this, the style 
of which is so captivating, you are in con- 
tinual danger of having your judgment bi- 
assed against Christianity, and your heart 
corrupted by the impurity of some of his 
sentiments. Taking for granted, however, 
that, by this time, you are able to separate 
the precious from the vile, and to discrimi- 
nate with tolerable accuracy between truth 
and falsehood, you may indulge yourself in 
this elegant description of fallen greatness. 
But be sure to guard yourself against the in- 
fluence of his sarcastical sneers at saints and 
bishops, and believe him in earnest only when 
he vouches for historical facts. 

With the same caution you must read 
Hume's History of England, and its con- 
tinuation by Smollet and Bisset. His infideli- 
ty ekes out so often, and his sophistical rea- 
sonings, whenever Christianity comes in his 
way, are so apparent, that, unless your mind 
be previously fortified with truth, you will 



24 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

hardly escape the contagion of his principles 
unhurt. With this precaution continually be- 
fore you, by all means read him. Without 
any such caution, you may read Robertson's 
Histoi~y of the Emperor Charles V. He un- 
folds the events of the reformation in a mas- 
terly manner, without disguising the truth 
with the speculations of a false philosophy. 
By all means make yourself acquainted with 
the history of your own country. Robert- 
son's History of America, Marshall's Life of 
General Washington, and Ramsay's History 
of the American Revolution, will be sufficient 
for this purpose, unless you add Trumbull's 
History of Connecticut, and Parish's History 
of Neiv-England. But you may omit all 
these, if you think best, until you have stu- 
died the history of the church. Begin with 
the Acts of the Apostles, and if Eusebius can 
be had, take him next, and connect with 
him Mr. Wesley's translation of the Fathers ; 
dip also into W. Cave's Primitive Christiani- 
ty, and Cave's Lives of the Fathers. An 
impartial Church History is yet a desidera- 
tum in the Christian world, which it is hoped 
some future historian, divested of sectarian 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 25 

prejudice and partiality, will supply. Mo- 
sheim is the best ; but he seems to be more 
famed for philosophical and historical ac«* 
curacy than for experimental Christianity ; 
but read him with attention. Wesley's is 
rather an abridgment than otherwise, and 
he seems, in many respects, to have trusted 
more to the judgment of others, than to have 
exercised his own. His compilation, how- 
ever, may be consulted with much profit. 
Milner and Haweis are both so tainted with 
the peculiarities of their own creed, that the 
offensive smell of Calvinism is exhaled from 
almost every page. Haweis especially, to 
establish his point, lays an embargo upon all 
the Fathers before Augustine, the father of 
his favourite doctrine, and will not allow 
their testimony, particularly on points of the- 
ology. But as it is necessary to look at er- 
ror sometimes in order to heighten the value 
and beauties of truth, you may read both 
Haweis and Milner, always recollecting that 
implicit confidence is not required in any 
human authority. 

As a Methodist preacher, you must ac- 
quaint yourself thoroughly with every part 
8 



2U LETTERS TO YOUNG 

of the history of Methodism, from its com- 
mencement to the present time. In this 
department of history you have materials 
enough, furnished by both friends and ene- 
mies, to work upon. The Journals of 
Messrs. Wesley, Coke, and Asbury ; Myles' 
Chronological History, Crowther's Portrait- 
ure of Methodism, and Lee's History of the 
Methodists ; The Wesley Family, by Dr. 
A. Clarke, The Life of John and Charles 
Wesley, by the Rev. H. Moore, Benson's 
Life of Fletcher, and Drew's Life of Dr. 
Coke ; and the British and American Mi- 
nutes of Conferences, will furnish you with 
a full and complete history of Methodism 
from its infancy to its present state of ma- 
turity. 

In the study of ecclesiastical history, you 
are not to look only for historical details of 
facts, and to watch the various ramifications 
of those heresies with which the church has 
been afflicted ; but also to detect the depra- 
vity of the human heart, by following it into 
its various labyrinths of error and vice ; to 
mark the weakness and strength of the hu- 
man judgment in its pursuit after truth ; and 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 27 

likewise to witness the alternate triumph and 
depression of pure and undefiled religion, 
and to look with admiration at the wonder- 
ful displays of divine grace and mercy to- 
wards his people, particularly in their various 
sufferings. Another very important object 
in this department of study is, to ascertain 
the primitive mode of church government. 
Here you will be led to notice, in the pro- 
gress of Christianity, the gradual departure 
of the church from Apostolic simplicity and 
purity, and to contrast, during the period of 
the Reformation, the various modes which 
were adopted, and the arguments used in 
defence of each, by the several sects. x Too 
much accuracy of discrimination, and atten- 
tive examination of the conflicting opinions 
of different authors, cannot be bestowed 
upon this subject with a view to this object ; 
and, it is presumed, that the more profoundly 
it is investigated, the less will be your bigoted 
attachment to any particular form, and more 
moderate your tone of censure towards those 
who dissent from you and from each other. 
This effect may be produced without any 
diminution of your zeal for primitive order, 



2b LETTERS TO YOUNG 

or any wavering respecting your adherence 
to your own particular mode. A censorious 
bigotry is rather the mark of want of thought 
than of a well informed mind upon this sub- 
ject. These remarks are designed to guard 
you against an over positive air when you 
discourse upon this subject, and to show the 
necessity of profound research in order to 
settle your mind upon a solid and catholic 
basis. 

As the life of Christ is intimately connect- 
ed with the history of the church, perhaps 
it might be thought that I should recommend 
this to your consideration. As it is recorded 
in the four gospels, I recommend it with all 
my heart. But all paraphrases upon them, 
which profess to be histories of Christ, are 
not worthy of the time you must consume 
in reading them. They dwindle into insig- 
nificance when contrasted with the simple, 
energetic, and concise narratives of the in- 
spired evangelists. By reading these in 
harmony, you will derive more satisfaction 
and solid benefit, than you would from a 
thousand paraphrastical details of human 
composition. The simple manner in which 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL, 29 

the evangelists introduce Jesus to our no- 
tice, and trace his progress through life, with 
the artless story of his tragical sufferings 
and death, and of his triumphant entry into 
heaven, needs not the varnish of human elo- 
quence to add to its native force and beauty. 
In the present day, when such mighty ex- 
ertions are making in every part of the Chris- 
tian world, for diffusing the renovating in- 
fluence of Christianity by missionary and 
bible societies, you should acquaint yourself 
with the history of these institutions, and 
thus mark the progress of gospel truth and 
holiness. This will enlarge the heart, and 
excite a spirit of prayer, and animate your 
zeal for the prosperity of the sacred cause 
in which so many are engaged. Is it not 
to unpardonable defect for a minister of the 
gospel to be ignorant of the operations of 
those societies which have for their object 
the restoration of man to the image of God ! 
A comprehensive knowledge of the past and 
of the present transactions of the church, 
will enable us to form a judgment of the 
probable results of the several causes which 
are at work, and thereby teach us how to 
3* 



30 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

act, what means to apply, to warn, to re- 
buke, and to exhort, with all long-suffering 
and patience. Brown's History of Missions > 
Owen's History of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, with the annual Reports of 
the Bible and Missionary Societies of your 
own and other countries, will afford you 
ample information on these subjects. 

One remark is necessary to prevent mis- 
apprehension. It is not meant that you 
should, while increasing your stock of his- 
torical knowledge, confine yourself solely to 
history. Whatever particular branch of 
knowledge you may pursue, you will devote 
more or less of time every day to the study 
of the doctrines and precepts of the gospel ; 
and the whole must be mingled with un- 
ceasing prayer to God. " If any man lack 
wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to 
all liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall 
be given him. 5 * 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 3? 



LETTER IV. 

Chronology, Prophecy, and Miracles. 

Chronology is perhaps one of the most 
intricate and difficult branches of knowledge 
connected with the study of divinity ; and 
yet, that we may be thoroughly furnished 
with arguments of defence against the as- 
saults of our adversaries, it is important and 
necessary. At present, however, you are 
not advised to enter into a laboured investi- 
gation of this subject. Most commentators 
have added to the value of their works by 
the insertion of chronological notices ; and 
Dr. Clarke especially, has bestowed no little 
labour upon this subject, and furnished his 
readers with an analogous view of the dates 
of the various events and transactions re- 
corded in the Holy Scriptures, and those 
contained in profane histories. 

This department of study is of infinite 
use in determining the truth of prophecy, 
by enabling us to ascertain the exact time 
in which it was delivered, as well as the time 



32 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

of its accomplishment. And every person 
must see the bearing this kind of evidence 
has upon the divine authority of Christianity. 
Suppose, for instance, that an infidel should 
assert that the predictions, respecting the 
overthrow and total destruction of Nineveh 
and Babylon, were uttered after those cities 
were destroyed ; how shall we otherwise 
obviate his objection than by proving from 
chronological history that the time of these 
prophets was long anterior to the desolation 
and destruction of those once populous and 
renowned cities ? It is well known, that 
such was the irresistible force of evidence, 
arising from the prophecies of Daniel re- 
specting the successive rise and downfal of 
the four great ancient monarchies, that the 
famous Porphyry affirmed that these pro- 
phecies were written after the events had 
come to pass. But here comes in the help 
of chronology, and proves that Daniel lived 
and prophesied a long time before these 
events happened, and that his prophecies 
were even translated into Greek a hundred 
years before they were accomplished. This 
is presented as a specimen of the great ttsfc 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 33 

a knowledge of chronology is to the biblical 
student, that he may defend himself against 
the onsets of libertines and infidels. Atten- 
tion to this subject will always teach the 
judicious mind how to apply this branch of 
knowledge to advantage. 

Closely connected with Chronology is the 
study of prophecy. As none but the infi- 
nite and all-comprehensive mind of God 
can so penetrate into futurity as to know 
tchen and how events will be accomplished, 
so the exact fulfilment of any prediction 
uttered by man, must prove that his mind 
was under the guidance of the Infinite Mind 
when such prediction was uttered. The 
fulfilment of prophecy, therefore, affords one 
of the most incontestible evidences in favour 
of the divine authority of the Book in which 
such prophecies are recorded. This sub- 
ject, then, ought to be well understood. 

The prophecies contained in the Holy 
Scriptures relate to nations, to Christ, to 
the Church, and to individual persons. 
These must be selected with care by him 
who would be an accomplished minister, 
and their application sought for in those 



34 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

events which, by their exact coincidence to 
the predictions, proclaim their accomplish- 
ment. The fulfilment of the prophecies of 
the Old Testament, which relate to the rise 
and fall of empires, to the prosperity, de- 
clension, and to the destruction of cities, is 
to be sought for in sacred and profane his- 
tories ; those which relate to Christ must 
be sought for in the New Testament, par- 
ticularly in the four Gospels ; and those 
which relate to the Church in general, in 
the history of the Church ; and those which 
evidently point to individuals, in the life and 
conduct of those individuals, many of which 
had their accomplishment soon after they 
were spoken. Simpson's Plea for Religion 
is an excellent help to the just application 
of those particular prophecies which centre 
in the person of Christ ; and Bishop New- 
ton's Dissertations on the Prophecies should 
be in the library of every Christian divine. 
But in the study of prophecy you must 
take care not to turn prophet yourself, by 
anticipating events which are yet wrapt up 
in futurity. Most commentators on the 
Apocalypse have dashed their heads against 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 35 

a wall, by attempting to run into the dark 
periods of futurity, guided only by the false 
light of human conjecture, instead of being 
led by the light of heaven, which points to 
the fulfilment of a prediction by a corres- 
ponding event. The strained application 
of some of the prophecies, such as that of 
Daniel and St. John to the French Revo- 
lution by Faber and others^ with many more 
of the like nature, while it serves to stagger 
the faith of weak believers, and to confirm 
skeptics in their perpetual doubts, betrays 
also the political prejudice and national 
vanity of their authors. The predictions of 
God were never uttered for the purpose of 
establishing political creeds, or of bloating 
the mind of man with national pride and 
vanity. 

Most commentators of established repu- 
tation have noticed with sufficient particu- 
larity the fulfilment of many of the predic- 
tions. Josephus will confirm the predictions 
of our Saviour concerning the destruction 
of Jerusalem ; and Ratlin will lead you to 
desolated Babylon, Tyre, and Nineveh, and 
from these mournful spectacles of ancient 



oH LETTERS TO YOUNG 

grandeur, point you to the inspired souls oi' 
Isaiah and Jeremiah, who denounced their 
overthrow long before it came to pass ; and 
the same impartial historian will shew you 
the successive elevation and depression of 
the haughty Babylonian, the bear-like Per- 
sian, the quick-paced Grecian, the eagle- 
eyed, and, for a time, invincible Roman, 
empires ; all of whose prototypes may be 
found in the prophecies of Daniel, the man 
greatly beloved of his God. Prideaux will 
help you through the labyrinth of the re- 
mainder of Daniel, and particularly that part 
of him which relates to the Messiah. 

Those prophecies, the fulfilment of which 
has not yet been declared by corresponding 
events, and the obscurity of which is only 
occasioned by the darkness of futurity, leave 
till time and circumstances shall develope 
their hidden meaning, and shed an infallible . 
light upon the language in which they were 
proclaimed. Do not risk your reputation 
for a wise and good man by undertaking to 
be a competitor with the Seers of God, when 
you have nothing but presumptuous conjec- 
tures to guide your dubious sight. And 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL, o r i 

above all, imitate not those whose political 
partialities have emboldened them to enter 
the sanctuary of God, and to convert the im- 
plements of the sacred temple into imple- 
ments of war, and to enkindle the fire q{ 
hell in the breasts of their countrymen, that 
they might, with less consciousness of guilt* 
shed human blood. I accuse not their in- 
tentions ; but I condemn their heedless im- 
petuosity, which, however, I only mention 
to make others afraid. When the time is 
come for the seals of the Apocalypse to be 
broken, St. John will speak — and his lan- 
guage shall be understood ; — till then let no 
one presume to give him a tongue, nor af- 
fect his tremulous but determined voice. 
But by all means study the prophecies, and 
mark their accomplishment. Apply the evi- 
dence derivable from hence to the defence 
and establishment of your religion. 

Miracles. The miraculous interposi- 
tion of Divine Providence, as recorded m 
the sacred Scriptures, proclaims one of the 
most stupendous evidences in favour of their 
authenticity. Conscious of the invincible 
Strength of thj£ species of testimony, infidel- 
4 



38 LETTERS TO YOUNfr 

ity has exerted all its ingenuity to weaken 
its force. But though it has brought all its 
artillery to play against this fortress in which 
the Christian defends himself, it has remained 
impervious to the strokes. Every minister 
therefore, that he may avail himself of this 
weapon of defence to the best advantage, 
should well understand the nature of a mira- 
cle. This is the more necessary because 
there have been so many pretended miracles 
palmed upon the world. To detect the fal- 
sity of all such, learn to distinguish with ac- 
curacy between genuine and spurious mira- 
cles. Campbell has written well on this 
subject. He has met with manly dignity, 
and unravelled with honest freedom, the so- 
phistry of Hume, while he has evinced the 
superior excellence of his cause, and tested 
the invincible strength of his arguments, by 
the spirit and temper with which he mana- 
ged the controversy, and put his antagonist 
to flight. You cannot, therefore, read him 
without profit. If he has any fault, it is 
that of paying too much deference to the 
judgment of his hardy antagonist. The ar- 
gument, however, in favour of Scriptural 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 39 

miracles has obtained a complete triumph 
in the hands of this champion for divine 
truth. 

Saurin has also some excellent remarks 
upon miracles. Among other things, he 
has laid down the following marks of a 
genuine miracle. 1. It must be wrought 
in confirmation of truth — for God will never 
interpose his authority to establish a lie, nor 
to make falsehood appear like truth. 2. It 
must be above human power to effect — for 
that which is within the reach of human 
might, needs not the interference of Omni- 
potence. 3. It must be susceptible of the 
examination of the understanding and senses 
of mankind — otherwise pretended miracles, 
which always elude examination, could never 
be detected, nor genuine ones understood 
and accredited. 4. To establish its genuine- 
ness beyond the reach of controversy, it 
must be wrought in the presence of disin- 
terested and competent witnesses — other- 
wise the laws of rational testimony and belief 
may be contravened, and gross impositions 
practised upon mankind, to the discredit of 
truth and virtue. 5. Though it be not 



4A> LETTERS TO YOUNG 

essential to the character of a genuine mi- 
racle to be effected always instantaneously, 
y^t when this characteristic accompanies 
any event, which otherwise might be ac- 
counted for upon rational principles, but 
cannot be accounted for under such peculiar 
circumstances, and withal announces the 
hand of God for its production, it must be 
admitted as miraculous. 

Now it is thought that all the miracles 
recorded in the Bible, whether in the Old 
or New Testament, exhibit all these marks 
of genuineness ; and consequently bear the 
stamp of divine authority. I desire you to 
make yourself master of this subject, and to 
examine for yourself the miraculous inter- 
positions of divine Providence and grace, 
which stand recorded in the Book of God, 
and apply the above rules to them with 
accuracy and impartiality ; and you will find 
their truth so glaring as to blind the eyes of 
infidelity, and their language so intelligible 
and determined as to silence every cavil of 
a skeptical philosophy. You may, indeed, 
admit some of the events recorded in Scrip- 
tuTe as miraculous, which were such as 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 41 

might have come to pass in the ordinary 
course of divine Providence ; and, there- 
fore, their miraculousness is to be deter- 
mined only from the particular time and 
manner in which they took place ; such as 
the " thunder and rain" in answer to the 
prayer of Samuel, 1 Sam. xii, 16 — 19, and 
the abundance of rain in answer to the prayer 
of Elijah, 1 Kings xviii, 41 — 45. Though 
thunder and rain come in the ordinary 
course of God's providence, or as some 
would say, according to the uniform opera- 
tion of the laws of nature, yet their coming 
at that time, and under those particular cir- 
cumstances, in answer to the prayer, and 
according to the prediction of the prophets, 
is a manifest proof of their being miracu- 
lous. But there are numerous other mira- 
cles recorded in the Bible, which, as far as 
we can perceive, could have had no existence 
but by an application of divine power to the 
subject of them. Among a multitude of 
others, you may fix your attention upon the 
gift of tongues upon the day of Pentecost : 
such a power, to speak instantaneously in a 
foreign language, is clearly beyond the or- 
4* 



42 LETTERS TO YOUKG 

dinary capacity of any man. The apostles, 
therefore, must have been immediately as- 
sisted by Omnipotence. 

By all means, then, study thoroughly the 
subject of miracles. The application of this 
species of evidence to the truth of divine 
revelation is irresistible. Their existence 
loudly and most conclusively proclaims the 
presence and operation of an Almighty hand. 
The God of nature and of nature's laws has 
the government of them ; and, therefore, 
can make them all subserve the purposes of 
His justice, power, wisdom, and of his un- 
bounded goodness, by suspending, reversing, 
and even of altering those laws according to 
His own good pleasure. And He who has 
done this to establish beyond a doubt the 
authority of the Holy Scriptures, has given 
them an inscription which cannot be coun- 
terfeited, and drawn the lines of truth so 
deep that they cannot be erased. You may 
consult the Letters of some Portuguese Jews 
to Voltaire. They contain much useful 
matter upon this and some other subjects 
connected with the authority of the Books 
of the Old Testament. 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL, 43 



LETTER V. 

Geography, 

To be thoroughly furnished with argu- 
ments frdfri the external evidences of the 
truth of divine revelation, for a complete 
defence against the assaults of your adver- 
saries, add to your other acquirements a 
knowledge of Geography. By having a 
general map of the world impressed upon 
your mind, you will have an intelligent view 
of those geographical notices so frequently 
mentioned in Scripture, and can compre- 
hend, with greater accuracy, those histori- 
cal details with which the book of God 
abounds. Geography is the handmaid of 
history, and therefore they must be con- 
stantly united together ; and they are two 
" great lights" which shed their mutual lustre 
upon the truths of divine revelation. By the 
aid of this science you can follow, with 
greater satisfaction, the flight of Abraham 
from his kindred, and mark the journeyings 
of Jacob and his sons ; can understanding 



44 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

trace the peregrinations of the Israelites 
through the " howling wilderness," till their 
final settlement in Canaan ; and can delight- 
fully regale yourself among the hills and 
valleys of Palestine, amidst ancient prophets 
and bards, who spoke so loftily and sung so 
melodiously in the name of God. * A know- 
ledge of geography will fit you for a com- 
panion of the twelve Apostles in their mis- 
sionary flights through the vast Roman 
Empire ; and you can alternately sail and 
walk with St. Paul through Greece, Spain, 
and Italy, and witness the prostration of 
idolatry before the progress and triumph of 
Christianity. With joy you may follow the 
banners of the cross, while they extend their 
peaceful influence over northern and south- 
ern latitudes, and eastern and western longi- 
tudes, and behold the " north and the south, 
the east and the west, resigning their sons 
and daughters to God." By the help of 
this science you can accompany the modern 
missionaries into the four quarters of the 
globe, see them enter the idolatrous temples 
of Asia, and gently draw their deluded priests 
and votaries from their bloody sacrifices to 



.MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 45 

the altar of the living and true God. You 
may tread the burning soil of Africa, the 
land of ignorance and oppression, and from 
thence wing your way through the king- 
doms of Europe, the theatre of those mighty 
events which astonish the world ; and visit, 
in your imagination, those favoured cities 
where benevolence sits enthroned amidst 
opulence and luxury, exerting its godlike 
energies to send the hallowed Word to the 
ends of the earth. And after taking this 
mighty circuit, and minutely examining the 
places through which you pass, you may 
return to refresh yourself in the pleasant 
fields, shadowy groves, and populous cities 
and villages of your own happy land, m 
which, indeed, your joy and exultation may 
be moderated by roaming through the wil- 
derness, and witnessing the degradation and 
wretchedness of our numerous Indian tribes* 
But what, say you, has geography to do 
with the study of divinity ? Is a minister of 
Jesus Christ, whose principal work is to save 
souls, called upon to survey the world — to 
mark the latitude and longitude of places— 
to estimate the width and breadth, and to 



46 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

notice the geographical and relative situations 
of kingdoms and empires — to distinguish be- 
tween islands and continents, promontories, 
bluffs, isthmuses, capes, mountains, valleys, 
and plains — between seas, lakes, bays, gulfs, 
rivers, and fountains — to enumerate the num- 
ber of inhabitants in the world, with their 
cities and villages ? What has all this to do 
with divinity ? 

In reply I would ask, Has not God made 
all these things ? And are they not perpe- 
tually alluded to in the Holy Scriptures? 
Should not, therefore, the minister of Christ, 
whose peculiar work is to explain and de- 
fend these writings, have some knowledge 
of those places to which geographical allu- 
sions are so frequently made ? The world 
is the grand theatre on which the wondrous 
acts of the Almighty are portrayed, and 
which continually exhibits marks of His 
omnipotence, of His wisdom and goodness. 
And to have a comprehensive view of these, 
must we not have a knowledge of the extent, 
the boundaries, and the productions of the 
terraqueous globe ? It is not only necessary 
that we understand the terms themselves. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 47 

but, as far as possible, the nature and situa- 
tion of the things described. When we 
read of the " cedars of Lebanon, 5 ' of the 
" dew of Hermon," of the " mountains of 
Ararat," of the " city of Babylon, Nineveh, 
Tyre, and of Rome," of the " deserts of 
Arabia," or of the " land of Ham," of the 
" river Euphrates," and the " great" or 
Mediterranean sea, unless we have a geo- 
graphical knowledge of those things and 
places, they are mere empty sounds to us ; 
but by spreading a map of the world before 
us, in which we behold their situation and 
extent, the understanding is fed, and faith 
strengthened. With the aid of this science, 
with what pious wonder and delight can we 
follow the Israelites from the haughty court 
of Pharaoh to Pi-hahiroth, and listen to their 
plaintive cries, while beholding the pursuit 
of their lordly taskmasters ; and with silent 
awe hear the inspiring words of their intre- 
pid leader, " Fear ye not, stand still, and 
see the salvation of the Lord." With them 
we may exult to find that the Red sea, or 
Arabian gulf m presents no barrier to their 
passage into the desei# of Arabia. And if 



48 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

any caviler should ask us how we know that 
this course led them into that wilderness, 
we present him with a geographical descrip- 
tion of the country. We may show him the 
mountains which rise on either side of the 
camp of the Israelites, and the strait over 
which they passed into the lonely desert ; 
and then point to the finger of God which 
led them on their way. And how com- 
pletely have the geographical notices of 
modern travellers confirmed all that the 
Scriptures have asserted respecting this 
dreary desert, the land of Canaan, and the 
adjoining countries ! 

It is not merely for the purpose of under- 
standing geography as a science, separately 
and independently considered, that I would 
have you make yourself acquainted with it ; 
but on account of the intimate connexion it 
has with the authenticity as well as illustra- 
tion of the sacred writings, and for the pur- 
pose of affording you a comprehensive view 
of the unlimited perfections of Jehovah, as 
displayed in the works of His hands. 

But it is unnecessary to enlarge upon 
this subject, NeitM* need you multiply 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 49 

books. Morse's Universal Geography,* his 
Gazetteer, with a good Atlas always at hand, 
and the Geographical Excursions by the Edi- 
tor of Calmet, will be quite sufficient for your 
purpose. I will only farther remark, that in 
reading history, your improvement in his- 
torical knowledge will depend much upon 
having a map continually before you, that 
you may survey the places of which you 
read, and mark their positive and relative 
situation. 

Many other branches of knowledge might 
be mentioned, as having a collateral bearing 
upon the evidence and illustration of sacred 
Scripture. How does the knowledge, for 
instance, of Astronomy, tend to enlarge 

* In some of the first editions of the above work, the 
author betrayed his want of candour, especially in his 
account of the religious and moral state of Upper Ca- 
nada. After remarking that " Methodism was the pre- 
vailing religion'' in that province, he said, " Their 
preachers are illiterate, rude in their manners, and often 
exceptionable in their morals." And this assertion has 
been reiterated by other writers, particularly by Mr. Pa* 
risk, whose history has been mentioned above. Though 
this exceptionable passage is corrected in later editions, 
fhis notation of it may not be out of place, as many may 
possess the first edition who may never see the Tatter, 
5 



50 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

our view of the Creator's glory in his won- 
derful works ! If the " heavens declare 
the glory of God, and the firmament show 
his handy work;" if the sun, moon, and 
stars, proclaim His ineffable majesty, how 
must the pleasure of contemplating these 
heavens, these resplendent luminaries of day 
and night, be heightened by a knowledge of 
their number, of their magnitude, of their 
distance from each other, of their continual 
revolutions, and of their centripetal and 
centrifugal influence ! While the uninformed 
stupidly gaze upon these stupendous eviden- 
ces of infinite power and wisdom, the devout 
astronomer looks with rapture, because they 
afford him a mirror by which the perfections 
of Jehovah are reflected upon his under- 
standing. Hence the pithy saying of the 
Christian poet,. 

" An undevout astronomer is mad." 

The scientific astronomer can reconcile the 
miraculous standing still of the sun upon 
Gibeon, and of the moon in the valley of 
Ajalon, with the modern system of Astro- 
nomy;* and can prove that the darkness 
* See Dr. A. Clarke on Joshua x> 12, 13, 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 51 

mentioned by the Evangelists, as having 
taken place at the Saviour's crucifixion, 
was altogether supernatural. Ferguson will 
give you a compendious view of this sublime 
science. 

Thus much for the external evidence of 
the authority of divine revelation. That 
course of study which leads to a just per- 
ception of the internal evidence, shall be at- 
tended to in the succeeding Letters. This 
shall be concluded by remarking, that the 
formal argument in defence of the truth of 
Christianity, should be used sparingly. To 
be perpetually dwelling upon it, betrays an 
affectation of learning not compatible with 
the modesty and gravity of the Christian 
ministry ; and also supposes a doubtfulness 
in the hearer which he is not willing any 
should suspect him to indulge. The hu- 
mane and skilful warrior will use his sword 
only when necessary to defend himself. In 
general, unless a course of lectures be ap- 
pointed expressly for the purpose of esta- 
blishing the divine authority of the sacred 
writings, it is best to take for granted that 
your hearers believe them ; and 3 therefore. 



Sl2 LETTERS to YOUNG 

instead of stopping to prove them true, urge 
their tremendous importance upon the con- 
sciences of your auditors. The majesty of 
truth will always command the reverence of 
the candid, and its inimitable charms, if per- 
mitted to shine in its own lustre, will attract 
the attention of the wise and good. Those 
who refuse to comply with its stern demands, 
leave to contend with the upbraiding Ian- 
guage of their alarmed consciences in the 
best way they can. 



LETTER VL 

Internal Testimony. 

Having noticed the method of study suit- 
able for collecting the external evidences of 
Christianity, we shall now touch upon its 
internal testimony. 

1. There is a majesty, a simplicity, an 
energy, and a harmony in the Scriptures 
themselves, which forcibly proclaim the di- 
vinity of their origin. Such is the pecu- 
liarity of their style, that all efforts at imita- 
tion have been unavailing. Like the native 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 53 

dignity and beauty of truth, the sacred Scrip- 
tures speak for themselves, declaring their 
own excellency to all who hear and under- 
stand their language. It would be an easy 
matter to select and to multiply passages, 
which, from the loftiness of their sentiments, 
the energy and sublimity of their language, 
the strength and harmony of their testimony, 
would carry a conviction, not only of their 
truth, but of their being divine truth. When 
God speaks, He speaks like Himself. His 
language is the language of wisdom, of au- 
thority, of goodness, as well as of truth. 
But you must make this selection for your- 
self, by familiarizing yourself with the whole 
Bible ; and then, indeed, you will hardly 
know which to take and which to leave, 
such is the loftiness, the sublimity, the force 
and harmony of the whole. 

2. The character of that Being whom the 
Scriptures reveal as the object of our wor- 
ship, as our Creator, Redeemer and Preser- 
ver, is such as must strike the mind of every 
attentive beholder with an awful conviction 
of the truth of that revelation which unfolds 
Him to our view. Though it be admitted 
5* 



54 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

that the mind of man is not adequate to 
form an idea of what the perfections of God 
should consist ; yet, when those perfections 
are made known, we immediately perceive 
them to be such as are every way worthy of 
the Creator and Governor of the universe. 
Like the rays of the natural sun, which 
carry a conviction of the existence of that 
grand instrument of natural light; so the 
perfections of God, shining forth upon the 
human mind through the medium of divine 
revelation, convey a conviction of the exist- 
ence of the Being from whom they emanate,, 
as well as of the moral excellence of His 
character. The moment God proclaims 
Himself as He is 9 the mind of man bows 
before Him with reverence, and acknow- 
ledges Him as the God over ally blessed for 
ever. 

3. The Scriptures are an exact mirroV 
in which we see a picture of ourselves. 
All that is said in them of man, tallies ex- 
actly with what our daily experience and 
observation prove us to be. The resem- 
blance is so striking, that we cannot with- 
hold our assent from the Scriptural delinea- 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 55 

lion of our characters. And who but He 
that perfectly knows the heart of man, could 
thus accurately describe it ? 

4. The admirable adaptation of that law 
revealed in the sacred Scriptures to the mo- 
ral condition of man, its native tendency to 
promote individual and social happiness, is a 
forcible evidence of their truth. The just- 
ness of its requirements, the morality of its 
precepts, and the benevolent tendency of 
its spirit and design, evince the divinity of its 
origin. 

5. All experience proves man to be a sin- 
ful being. The Scriptures recognise him as 
such ; and this coincidence of testimony is 
a strong internal evidence of their truth. 
But they receive additional confirmation by 
revealing a method of pardon and of reco- 
very to the forfeited favour of God, every 
way suited to the condition of man, and 
every way worthy of the infinite perfections 
of God. This opens a wide field for the 
range of the human mind to notice the foot- 
steps of Almighty power, wisdom, and good- 
ness. 

This part of our subject embraces all the 



56 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

doctrines and precepts of Christ. And such 
is their excellency, that they need only to 
be understood in order to be believed. When 
considered collectively, they are to the soul 
of man what a complete garment is to his 
body — they suit every trait of his moral cha- 
racter. To enter into an illustration of this 
point, would be to write a system of divinity. 
It is only necessary, therefore, to refer you 
to those authors who have already explained 
and enforced the peculiar doctrines of the 
gospel, that you may be a perfect man of 
God, thoroughly furnished unto every good 
work. 

In doing this, your chief difficulty will be, 
from such a vast variety as we have, to se- 
lect the best ; for it is a waste of time, and 
tends to dissipate the mind, and to prevent 
it from exerting its own energies, to take an 
indiscriminate range through books upon 
divinity. No man, who knows the value of 
time, and the importance of improving every 
moment to the best advantage, will read any 
thing and every thing that comes in his way. 

Stackhouse's Complete Body of Divinity, 
if you can have patience to plod through it 



JVIINISTEBS OP THE GOSPEL. &7 

will reward you for your labour ; and bating 
somewhat for the peculiarities of Calvinism, 
and the want of clearer views of experiment- 
al divinity, Dr. Dwighfs System of Theo- 
logy is worthy of a„serious perusal. The 
Christian Library, collected by Mr. Wesley, 
is an excellent compilation ; containing the 
marrow of the writers on divinity of the 17th, 
and beginning of the 18th century. Lelmd 
and Paley, on the external and internal 
evidences of Christianity, may be read with 
profit; and Bogue and Bonnett are lively 
and conclusive in their arguments ; while 
the Gospel its own Witness,* by Fuller, will 

* It must be understood, that the author is not pledged 
for the approbation of all the sentiments contained in 
the books which he takes the liberty to recommend , 
even when no exceptions are made. It is to be ex- 
pected that almost every writer, even while he endea- 
vours to express the sentiments of the sect to which he 
belongs, will advance some things peculiar to himself, 
and which are therefore to be received or rejected ac« 
cording as the evidence which may appear for or against 
them. But, in the examination of authors, it is as 
necessary to guard against captiousness, especially in 
matters of minor importance, as it is to be scrupu- 
lously exact in adhering to what we consider to be the 
truth; always remembering that the writer may have 
&ad as good an opportunity for correct information, 



58 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

exhibit some of the superlative excellencies 
of Christianity, in proof of the divine autho- 
rity of the Law and the Gospel. WatsorCs 
Theological Institutes, the first volume of 
which has just been published, supplies a 
desideratum in Christian theology hitherto 
much wanted. 

Wesley 9 s Works, and particularly his Ser- 
mons, contain the most comprehensive, the 
deepest, the most experimental and practical 
body of divinity to be found in the English 
language. Disdaining the ornaments of rhe- 
toric, and despising the applause of man as 

and be possessed of as much candour as ourselves. It 
would, indeed, be as idle to expect all men to think pre- 
cisely alike on all subjects, and much more that they 
should express themselves in the same manner, as it 
would be to expect every man to look exactly alike. 
While every human being so far resembles his fellows 
as to be recognised as belonging to the same species, 
he will exhibit those individual peculiarities of counte- 
nance, gesture, and tone of voice, which distinguish him 
from every other man : Just so it is in the intellectual 
world ; — there is that kind of harmonious opposition 
which constitutes the beauty, the excellency, as well as 
the oneness and integrity of truth, and which, though 
passing through a variety of moulds, exhibits marks of 
coming from the same source, and therefore possesses 
a horaogeneousness of character. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 59 

the reward of his labours, he simply aimed 
at truth ; and when ascertained, he unfolded 
it in language chaste, energetic, perspicuous, 
and strong. His eloquence is the eloquence 
of truth, warmly addressed to the under- 
standings and consciences of men. While 
he unfolds the attributes and perfections of 
God, displays the character and offices of 
the Redeemer, and points to the energies 
of the Holy Spirit as the efficient cause of 
every thing good, he lays open the naked- 
ness and depravity of the human heart ; and 
he leaves you not until he leads you to the 
atoning blood, transforms you into the like- 
ness of Christ, fills you with perfect love, 
takes you around the circle of all civil and 
religious duties, and opens to your enrap- 
tured soul the kingdom of ineffable glory. 
You cannot read him, if you have any taste 
for solid truth, for a chaste, an elegant and 
a classic style, for experimental and practi- 
cal divinity, without profit and delight. He 
is never dull or insipid ; never dry and unin- 
teresting ; but always lively, energetic, plain, 
and possesses the rare and happy talent of 
making you commune with your own heart 



60 LETTEBS TO YOUNG 

and with your God. Though his discourses 
are not written in a systematical order, yet 
they contain a concise and Scriptural view 
of every doctrine of the gospel, and explain, 
in a pointed and perspicuous manner, all the 
individual and social duties of man. For a 
correct knowledge of the great doctrines of 
God our Saviour, therefore, you need only 
read Wesley. 

But for the sake of variety and general 
improvement, you may read also Saurin and 
Masillon. Saurin will inspire you with a 
spirit of sermonizing; and Masillon will 
teach you, in addition to a lofty and florid 
style — which is not best adapted to the pul- 
pit — to analyze the human heart. Blair 
will furnish you with a worthy sample of 
language and of pulpit oratory ; but he is 
not to be taken as a guide in divinity. His 
excellent colleague, Walker, will unite pu- 
rity of style and sentiment, and teach you to 
mingle piety in all your public and private 
exercises* Baxter will make your soul re- 
volve upon itself, and enter into a minute 
examination of all its desire^ and motives, 
and actions,, 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL, 61 

The beloved, the able, the pious, and the 
indefatigable Fletcher, will instruct you in 
polemical divinity. Of all polemical writers, 
he is to be preferred for the spirit and man- 
ner in which he puts to flight his antagonists. 
Other writers may teach you the art of dis- 
puting ; they may succeed in rescuing the 
truth from the mazes of error, and learn you 
how to wield a logical argument to the best 
advantage in defence of orthodoxy; but 
while Fletcher does all this in the most mas- 
terly manner, he makes you love and respect 
your adversary, and learns you to distinguish 
between the person of your combatant and 
the cause he has espoused. He does more- 
he makes you think meanly of yourself, 
brings you to the feet of the Saviour, makes 
you acquainted with your own heart, and 
gives you no rest until you surrender your- 
self entirely to the direction of that truth he 
so ably defends. In addition to this, he 
wakes up all the dormant faculties of your 
soul, makes you think, reason, deliberate^ 
and decide, for yourself. While, impelled 
on by the force and impetuosity of his argu- 
ments, you are ready to leap on your 
6 



62 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

antagonist, and crush him beneath your feet, 
you are instantly arrested with a sight of 
yourself, of your weakness and dependance, 
and you are led to deplore those frailties of 
human nature which make men swerve from 
the truth ; and while compassion awakens 
in your breast, you are presented with the 
all-compassionate Saviour, who is ready to 
heal your wounds, and to strengthen you 
again for the combat. His " Checks to 
Antinomianism," though professedly contro- 
versial, and as such have shed a flood of 
light over the horizon of evangelical truth, 
are pervaded with a spirit of love ; and 
while your understanding is enriched with 
his lucid arguments, illustrated as they are 
by the most striking, lively, and apt meta- 
phors and comparisons, your heart is in- 
flamed with love to God and man. Read 
Fletcher, then, but do not forget Wesley. 
For the defence of some of the particular 
doctrines of the gospel, you will select par- 
ticular treatises. Wesley on Original Sin, 
and Fletcher's Appeal to Matter of Fact and 
Common Sense, will fully evince the natural 
and hereditary depravity of man. Wesley's 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 63 

and Coke's Sermons on the Divinity of 
Christ, are both good. If you wish a more 
enlarged view of this momentous subject, 
Wardlow on the Socinian Controversy is the 
best. Horseley against Priestley may be 
read with interest and profit. 

Study well this subject. It lies at the 
foundation of your system. It forms, in 
fact, the most prominent peculiarity of the 
Christian doctrine. Do not, therefore, let 
the enemy find you unprepared upon this 
point. Christ is God, or we are all a set of 
fools ; and Christianity is worse than nothing 
for perplexing the minds of men with con- 
tradictory notions about a thing of no im- 
portance. The doctrine of atonement, of 
the influence of the Holy Spirit, of regene- 
ration, stands or falls with the divinity of 
Christ. But after all your reading, you 
will do well to remember that the doctrine 
is to be supported by plain, positive, Scrip- 
ture testimony. Consult, therefore, all those 
texts which bear upon this point, for your- 
self, and have them always ready for use. 
Thus saith the Lord, is better than a thou- 
sand comparisons, reasonings, or human 
assertions. 



£4 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

On the doctrine of Repentance, Justifi- 
cation, and Sanctification, you can find no 
authors who have illustrated those subjects 
with greater clearness and accuracy, than 
Wesley and Fletcher. If you wish to 
heighten the beauty, and enhance the worth, 
of truth, by contrasting it with its opposite, 
you may find shades enough — Calvin, Ed- 
wards, and Hopkins, will each contribute 
his share. You need not, however, reject 
what is good in these authors on account of 
the bad. Sherlock upon Providence and on 
Death, and Porteus* Lectures, contain much 
excellent matter. Sellon will help you to 
many useful hints on the Calvinistic contro- 
versy ; but his pen was not dipt so deep in 
the oil of love as was that of Fletcher. 
Taylor and Law will teach you the art of 
holy living; akd Baxter, while he opens 
your understanding, and makes you think 
and reason, winds around your heart, makes 
you ashamed of sin, and forces you to pro- 
nounce condemnation upon spiritual sloth ; 
and, if you be not past hope, aw akensall 
your faculties to holy meditation and prayer. 
His Beformed Pmtor is a two-edged swords. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 65 

It is neglected merely because it is too 
sharp ! 

On the subject of Infant Baptism, Wes- 
ley, Edwards, Moore, and Merritt, will be 
sufficient. 

If you have made a good use of your time, 
and have sedulously consulted the principal 
part of the authors already recommended, 
you will be able to select for yourself such 
miscellaneous reading as may be necessary 
for your continual improvement. A Dic- 
tionary of Arts and Sciences should be in 
your possession. The New Edinburgh En- 
cyclopedia is the most impartial. But if, 
after all, you contract no relish for study, 
and are making no advances in wisdom and 
knowledge, I advise you to give up the pur- 
suit, and return to some employment that 
is more congenial to your mental taste. 
x Never think of palming yourself upon the 
public as a teacher of religion, when you 
yourself will not be taught. 

It may seem somewhat strange to some 

that we should include all the doctrines of 

the gospel among the internal evidences of 

Christianity. The reason is, that we con- 

6* 



66 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

sider all truth as shining by its own light. 
It only needs to be exhibited and to be per- 
ceived, in order to be embraced. Let, there- 
fore, Christianity be presented to the mind 
in its own native lustre, and it will convince 
every intelligent mind of its truth and im- 
portance. It is only because its peculiar 
glories have been either hid or obscured, by 
the smoke and dust of error, that it has 
been rejected. Let this bright Sun of truth 
but show itself, and its divine glories will 
eclipse the glory of every other system of 
religion, and make its truth and excellency 
be felt by the weight of its own internal 
testimony. 



LETTER VIL 

Biography. 

Christianity lives and shines in the 
lives and conduct of its possessors. Hence 
the utility of Christian Biography. This, 
therefore, is another department of study 
which will engage the attention of the Chris- 
tian minister. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 67 

The Scriptures abound with biographical 
sketches ; and these are the best, because 
the most impartial. You have not only the 
excellencies, but also the defects of the cha- 
racters there exhibited. In reading the Holy 
Scriptures, therefore, you will do well to 
notice all the peculiarity, the variety, and the 
contrariety of character which they deline- 
ate. If you would make a just estimate of 
the human character, you must view it as it 
i$ 9 and not from any fanciful or partial repre- 
sentation of it, which may have been dic- 
tated by the warmth of friendship, or by the 
heat of malice ; and this impartial delineation 
is to be found, in its greatest perfection, in 
the Holy Scriptures. And what enhances 
the value of Scripture Biography is, that it 
is composed of facts and incidents which 
are introduced by the writer to perfect his 
narration, and not from any desire to eulo- 
gize the hero of the story. No laboured 
panegyric, with a view to emblazon the vir- 
tues of a favourite hero, appears upon the 
page of inspiration. 

Who can view the dignified, the courteous, 
the self-denying, the intrepid, and the disin- 



68 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

terested character and conduct of Jlbraham; 
the pious and faithful conduct of Lot ; the 
bold, the innocent, and meek, the wise and 
faithful, the determined and persevering con- 
duct of Moses, in the various situations and 
relations of life which he sustained ; of the 
conduct of Joshua, the courageous man of 
God ; of Samuel, the faithful prophet and 
the impartial judge ; of Saul, though tinc- 
tured with a mixture of good and bad, of 
wisdom and folly ; of David, of Solomon, of 
Daniel, with many others so faithfully and 
impartially portrayed in the sacred Scrip- 
tures ; — Who, I say, can study the life and 
actions of such personages, without being 
both wiser and better ? 

Christ is a perfect example. To trace 
Him through all his life, to witness his trium- 
phant death, and to behold his resurrection, 
affords one of the most instructive lessons 
of biography to be found on the records of 
time. And let us remember, that He has said, 
Learn of Me. 

The lives of the apostles, both before and 
after the crucifixion, exhibit a striking picture 
of human nature in its various appearances 



3IIN1STERS OF THE GOSPEL. 69 

of weakness, of timidity, of strength, of bold- 
ness, and of daring intrepidity. In all the 
biographical notices recorded in the Scrip- 
tures, on account of the fidelity of the writer, 
we are continually presented with the ever- 
varying shades of the human character; 
sometimes struggling through weakness, and 
often, in the midst of discouraging obstacles, 
through grace triumphing over them aU ; at 
other times overcome and defeated by what 
might seem trifling considerations. And 
while we behold the saints of God surmount- 
ing every difficulty and conquering every foe, 
we see the malice of their enemies exempli- 
fying itself in pouring contempt, and by 
inflicting torments, upon them. 

All history; indeed*, continually presents 
us with men and women, exhibiting their 
peculiar excellencies and defects, and all 
that variety of character, of which human 
nature is susceptible ; and hence history 
becomes one of the most interesting and 
instructive departments of study. 

But, in addition to the scattered fragments 
of biography found on the pages of general 
history, there are biographies of particular 



70 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

persons, written especially to perpetuate their 
goodness or greatness, that succeeding gene- 
rations might emulate their virtues, and thus 
profit by their example ; and so numerous 
are they, that it seems almost needless to 
mention them. But, as a Christian minister, 
you ought to be acquainted more especially 
with all those eminent men who have em- 
ployed their time and talents in defence of 
Christianity. The history of the Reforma- 
tion will unfold such men as Wickliffe, 
Huss, Jerome, Luther, Calvin, Zuinglius, 
Knox, Cranmer, Latimer, Ridley, &c, who 
dared the relentless fury of popish supersti- 
tion and bigotry. And in looking at them, 
you cannot but see their enemies ; and thus, 
from a contrasted view of human nature, 
you will experience the alternate excitement 
of admiration and disgust, of joy and of sor- 
row. Neither will it be a waste of time to 
acquaint yourselves with those men who 
have shone in the galaxy of literature, and 
have shed a lustre upon the moral world by 
their philosophical researches. This will 
afford an instructive lesson, by showing you 
the gradual developement of the human mind 



.MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 7i 

in its pursuit after truth. Who can con- 
template such characters as Leibnitz, Locke. 
Bacon, Johnson, Newton, Reid, &c, with- 
out feeling an involuntary desire to emulate 
them, as far as is consistent with the higher 
claims which the science peculiar to our 
profession has upon us, in their literary pur- 
suits ? This kind of biography combines the 
history of Mind, in its varied progress from 
infancy to manhood, with the history of 
science, and the dominion it exercises over 
the destinies of mankind. 

And if we wish to see human nature in 
all its varied forms, we must not exclude 
from our notice statesmen and warriors . 
Who that have read of the mighty achieve- 
ments of the latter part of the last, and 
the beginning of the present, century, but 
would wish to acquaint themselves with 
those characters who have stood upon the 
theatre, and have either been the principal 
actors, or have secretly moved the ma- 
chinery ? Hence the lives of such men as 
Pitt, Nelson, Washington, Franklin, Buo- 
naparte, &c, &c, must afford a most inte- 
resting and impressive lesson of instruction 



72 LETTERS TO YOUSG 

to all who wish to see the varied hues of the 
human character. Neither should we be 
ignorant of those who have exerted their 
influence to destroy the holy child Jesus. 
Many such there have been ; and by having a 
knowledge of their character, and of the man- 
ner in which they have endeavoured to effect 
their nefarious designs, we shall be the bet-, 
ter able to guard ourselves against their rude 
assaults. The dark designs and diabolical 
deeds of those who formed the Illuminati of 
France, such as Wieshaupt, Rousseau, Vol- 
taire, Volney, and their associates ; as well 
as Hume, Bolingbroke, Paine, and others of 
the like character, should be known, that 
we may be qualified, when called to it, for 
the vindication of truth ; for it is sometimes 
necessary to look error in the face, in order 
to heighten the beauties, and to enhance the 
value of truth. Most of the Encyclopaedias 
record the biography of all the noted cha- 
racters, whether good or bad, which have 
figured in the world. 

But, as a minister of Christ, and as a 
member of His mystical body, you will be 
most delighted in tracing the experience, in 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 73 

witnessing the success, and in sympathizing 
with the sufferings, as well as rejoicing in 
the final triumph of the faithful witnesses of 
Jesus, and especially of those messengers of 
His who have advocated and advanced His 
cause. Fox's Book of Martyrs will exhibit 
a number of such. In the Life of Wesley 
you will have an example of a man, richly 
adorned with almost every science, and ma- 
tured with every grace of the Holy Spirit, 
vigorously and successfully exerting all his 
powers for the present and future happiness 
of mankind. In Fletcher you will see a 
combination of excellencies, literary, moral, 
intellectual, and spiritual, uniting to set forth 
the purity and amiableness of the Christian 
character. Unless a criminal indifference 
has benumbed your soul to every thing pure 
and good, you can read neither of them 
without feeling a holy ambition, an ardent 
thirst, for the attainment of an enlightened 
piety, an unreserved devotion to God, and 
a burning love to the souls of men. The 
quick, the animated, and the indefatigable, 
as well as the pious and zealous Coke, will 
teach you to frown upon every thing little 
7 



74 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

and miserly, and to condemn indolence and 
inactivity. And oh Jlsbury ! how do we 
blush when thy journals tell us of thy la- 
bours, of thy sufferings, of thy perils by sea 
and land, and among false brethren ! What 
an example for our modern missionaries ! 
The American Methodist preachers will long 
revere thy virtues ; and while they read thy 
pages, will lift their hearts to God in devout 
thankfulness for having inspired thee with 
courage and perseverance in the cause of 
thy adorable Master. Swartz, Brainerd, 
and Elliot, as well as the philanthropic 
Howard, will each contribute his share of 
instructive piety and persevering zeal. Ho- 
nest John Nelson will teach you courage ; 
Thomas Walsh will inspire you with prayer 
and devotion ; and teach you how to com- 
bine literary pursuits with the most fervent 
piety ; while Bacon and Martyn will admi- 
nister consolation in the midst of discourage- 
ments and difficulties. It is needless to 
enumerate more. Your own judgment will 
direct you to those which are the most suit- 
able. If, however, you wish to see female 
excellence shine forth in the splendour of 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 75 

Christianity, besides those recorded in Scrip- 
ture and general history, read Jane Cooper, 
Hester Ann Rogers, Mrs. Fletcher, and 
Lady Maxwell. 

But are these to be enumerated among 
the internal evidences of Christianity ? Un- 
questionably ! What more forcible evidence 
can we have of the truth of any doctrine, 
than to see it exemplified in the spirit and 
conduct of its professed disciples ? This is 
a living, a moving, a perpetual monument, 
known and read of all men, of the truth and 
reality of the Christian religion Have you 
not heard, have you not read, time after 
time, that Christianity is a fable ? And why ? 
Because of the manifest inconsistency be- 
tween its principles and professors. Say the 
objectors, " Christianity requires us to be 
holy, to be meek, humble, grave, honest, 
jUst, merciful ; but we daily witness its pro- 
fessed believers to be unholy, proud, high- 
minded a light and vain, dishonest in their 
dealings, unjust in their contracts, and un- 
merciful in their conduct; and therefore 
there is neither truth in their principles nor 
honesty in their professions." Now exhibit 



76 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

to them those men in whom all the Chris- 
tian principles exerted an active influence, 
in whom its graces shone with conspicuous 
splendour, and you present them with a 
most commanding evidence in favour of the 
truth of Christ and of His doctrine. Present 
them with a man, who, like Paul the apostle, 
has felt the renovating power of the Holy 
Ghost, and whose after life has corresponded 
to the doctrines and precepts of Christ, and 
you disarm infidelity itself, and strip the ob- 
jector of his last weapon which he wields 
against your religion. 

And even the lives of its enemies declare 
in its favour. In regard to some of the 
most eminent philosophical and literary men 
since the establishment of Christianity, they 
have been its warm admirers and able de- 
fenders ; while many of the others, particu- 
larly its bold defamers, have, in their lives, 
evinced the necessity of Christianity to re- 
form them ; and in their deaths, have proved 
its truth by the moral darkness, distress, and 
doubts, with which they have passed from 
time to eternity ! 

The manner in which Julian the apostate, 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 77 

Hume, the infidel philosopher, Hobbes, the 
gloomy skeptic, Voltaire, the facetious, but 
inveterate foe to Christianity, Rousseau, the 
philosophical profligate, and Paine, the vul- 
gar apostate from the truth, all died, is a 
sufficient confirmation of the truth of these 
remarks. But if any should object, that 
there have been many, who, under the pro- 
fession of Christianity, have disgraced their 
lives by intemperance and profaneness, (and 
that there have been such who can deny ?) 
and consequently sunk under a gloomy cloud 
into eternity ; the answer is easy ; they be- 
lieved the doctrines of Christianity with the 
same indifference with which they believed 
any other truth in which they felt little or no 
interest ; but they did not so believe it as to 
liave it affect their hearts and lives. They 
held the truth in unrighteousness, living and 
dying without any experience of the trans- 
forming power of truth on their hearts, 



*f# 



78 letters to yoraa 



LETTER Till. 

Philosophy — Natural and Moral. 

In addition to those branches of know- 
ledge already mentioned, there are others 
which have a claim upon your attention. 
Philosophy, including both natural and 
moral science, is a department of study 
highly important to the biblical student. 

By Natural Philosophy, we understand 
the natural history of the universe, including 
the different genera, and the several species of 
animated nature, from man down to the low- 
est reptile or smallest animalcule ; also th€ 
history of inanimate creation, comprehend- 
ing the various productions of sea and land, 
with the various uses, as far as can be ascer- 
tained, of each fossil, plant, or vegetable, 
describing the simple elements of which 
compounded bodies are composed. How 
vast the study of nature ! How great, there- 
fore, nature's God ! Every reader of the 
Bible knows how frequently these things are 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL, 19 

referred to in the Scriptures ; and that, with- 
out some acquaintance with them, it is not 
possible to understand the point of the nu- 
merous allusions which are made to animals, 
to vegetables and fossils, by the inspired 
writers. To be able to understand, in some 
tolerable degree, how the great laboratory 
of nature, like a skilfiil alchymist, con- 
tinually carries on its operations by causes 
and instruments which, to be sure, often 
elude the sight of human eyes, must produce 
the profoundest reverence for the infinite 
skill of the adorable Author of nature, and 
not a little strengthen our belief in the divi- 
nity of that Book, in which these great 
principles of nature are perpetually recog- 
nised. And the deeper we dive into this 
profound abyss, the more diffident shall we 
be "of our own powers, while we shall be 
filled with admiration of the grand displays 
of God's immeasurable wisdom, power, and 
goodness. 

When an allusion is made in the Holy 
Scriptures, to those things with which we 
are familiar, we are immediately struck with 
its aptness, and are instructed by the illus- 



80 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

(ration ; and if we were as well acquainted 
with all the other natural productions and 
curiosities, as well as the artificial works of 
man, to which reference is made by meta- 
phor and allegory, we should be no less 
edified and delighted, with the justness of 
the comparison, or the fitness of the allegory. 
But the limits we have prescribed to our- 
selves, in these remarks, will not allow us 
to particularize. This you must do for your- 
self; and you cannot open the Book of God, 
without discovering these perpetual refer- 
ences to the various productions of nature, 
to animals and vegetables, and, indeed, to 
all the elements of nature ; and which are 
used by the inspired writers to illustrate 
some point of doctrine, to enforce some 
duty, or to inspire faith in some promise, or 
to render some threatening more tremen- 
dous in its aspect. 

The Fragments added to the latest edi- 
tions of Calmet, contain much useful and 
curious matter illustrative of the natural his- 
tory of the Bible. If the Editor has erred 
at all in his numerous elucidations, it has 
been by indulging too frequently in conjee- 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 81 

tures, and by endeavouring to lower down 
the majesty of miraculous interpositions to 
the common operations of the laws of na- 
ture. But every reader must exercise his 
own judgment on whatever author he may 
consult. Harmer's Observations are a va- 
luable acquisition for a literal interpretation 
of many passages of Scripture which have a 
reference to the philosophy of the Bible. 
Many systems of natural philosophy have 
been written ; but perhaps Ray's Survey of 
the Wisdom of God in the Creation, Gold- 
smith's Animated Nature, and Wesley's Phi~ 
losophy, are among the best. If, however, 
you wish to see this subject more fully 
exemplified, you may consult Buffon,* who 
is a lively writer, and to whom Goldsmith 
acknowledges many obligations. Wesley's 
Philosophy! possesses one excellence, to 

♦What a pity this great naturalist should have allowed 
himself to offend the good taste of his readers by the use 
of unchaste language. 

t The late edition of Wesley's Philosophy, published 
at the Book Room, has been revised, and its principles 
accommodated to the modern improvements in this de- 
partment of science. The name of the author of this 
work is sufficient of itself to give it celebrity among 



82 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

which the others have not an equal claim ; 
it directs all its researches to one determinate 
end, namely, the display of the perfections 
of God in His wonderful works. What a 
pity that all writers did not keep this end 
in view ! For what is nature but the " art 
of God ?" And what are all the works of 
men, but so many emanations of God's glory 
shining forth through their minds, and re- 
flected from the work of his hands ? At 
any rate, this should be the end to be kept 
steadily in view by every biblical student in 
all his philosophical researches. The crea- 
tive skill and ever acting agency of God 
must be seen in all his works and ways. 
Newton was both a philosopher and a Chris- 
tian. And that a deep knowledge of the 
laws of nature has a tendency to fill the 
mind with devout acknowledgments of the 
great Supreme, is evinced by the effect 

those qualified to appreciate his worth ; and what might 
tend to give it still additional celebrity, is, that many 
things which were inserted by Mr. Wesley merely as 
conjectural, the improvements since made in the science 
by numerous experiments, have proved true. Some of 
these are noticed in the course of the work by its 
reviser. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 83 

which his astonishing discoveries produced 
on his expanded mind. It is said that he 
never pronounced the name of God without 
a solemn pause ! How wonderful the works 
of God ! " In wisdom hast thou made 
them all." 

The next branch of Philosophy is called 
Moral. It treats of Mind — Of God, of 
angels, of men — and endeavours to ascer-. 
tain the duties of moral beings to each other, 
from their mutual relations. This was the 
science which so deeply engaged the atten- 
tion of the ancient philosophers. They 
delighted in analyzing man, and in develop- 
ing the powers of his mind. And I need 
not observe that, however accurately they 
might have described man, and however 
highly they estimated his abilities, or his in- 
tellectual attainments, they found him too 
feeble to ascertain the perfections of the 
Almighty. Of this they have given sufficient 
proofs in their own theories on theology. 

On this branch of philosophy, the world 
abounds with treatises. From Aristotle down 
to Stewart, there has been almost a con- 
tinual stream of it flowing through the land ; 



84 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

until it finally settled in the stagnant pool of 
Hume's theory of successive impressions and 
barefaced Atheism ! A Beattie and a Reid 
arose to rescue it from this fatal catastrophe 
and to restore it to that reality and activity, 
which render it a suitable companion for the 
reasonable and active soul of man. In these 
two authors you have the philosophy of 
Common Sense, and are enabled to behold 
man as he is, and not in those fantastical 
robes with which an ideal and mock philo- 
sophy would array him. You need not, 
however, omit Locke; though Reid, as a 
writer has observed, is to be preferred, " be- 
cause he had the sagacity to detect the 
errors of Locke. 55 Reid's Essays on the 
Intellectual and Active Powers of Man, ought 
to grace the library of every Christian minis- 
ter ; but you need not set Reid against Reid, 
by incorporating the notes of the Boston 
editors. Let Reid speak for himself, and he 
will speak a more intelligible language, more 
in accordance with the dictates of common 
sense, than any of his interpreters. The 
judicious critic may add something to this 
lisrbt ; but the invidious and snarling sciolist 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 85 

will only " darken counsel, by words with- 
out knowledge." Steicart, though justly 
much admired, sinks, in the opinion of the 
writer, far beneath his predecessor and 
teacher in the philosophy of the mind, both 
in the clearness of his perceptions, the per- 
spicuity and energy of his language, and in 
the justness and truth of some of his senti- 
ments. Stewart, however, as well as Cogan, 
may be read with profit and delight. Seattle's 
Moral Science, and his Treatise on the Im- 
mutability of Truth, should occupy the same 
shelf with Reid's Essays. And if you wish 
to see the sentiments of these eminent phi- 
losophers corroborated by one of your own 
countrymen, you may look into Smith's 
Lectures on Political and Moral Science. 
More you need not add. 
v The utility and importance of making 
moral philosophy a particular branch of 
study, will appear evident, when it is con- 
sidered that God addresses man as a moral 
being ; as a being possessing a capacity to 
understand, and to do His will, because he 
is a free moral agent, capable of willing or 
nilling according to his own pleasure. And 
8 



86 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

as this science teaches him to analyze his 
own powers, to ascertain the various rights 
of individuals, of communities, of nations, 
the numerous duties which originate from 
his religious, civil, and political relations ; 
and explains and enforces, as far as it is 
able to do, all the great principles of moral 
duty to God and man ; it has an imperious 
demand upon the- attention of all those who 
would successfully instruct mankind in the 
great doctrines of God our Saviour. And 
it affords indescribable satisfaction to the 
biblical student, to find that all the indivi- 
dual and social rights and duties, which are 
recognised in the profoundest treatises of 
moral science, are clearly revealed in the 
Holy Scriptures, and are enforced by the 
strongest of all possible motives. And per- 
haps it may not be unimportant to observe, 
that this consideration, of the perfect accord- 
ance of the deductions of scientific men, who 
have derived their conclusions from the in- 
variable relations of moral beings to each 
other, with the declarations of inspiration, 
is no inconsiderable argument hi favour of 
the divine authority of Holy Scripture. At 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 87 

least, it is certain that no man can reason- 
ably reject a book, which recognises the 
same principles, and enforces the same 
duties, which he himself thinks he has dis- 
covered originating from the nature of God 
and man, and from the mutual relations 
existing among rational and intelligent be- 
ings. How far the best treatises on Moral 
Science may be indebted to revelation for 
their truest sentiments, and for their know- 
ledge of the immutable principles of moral 
duty, is a question which need not be dis- 
cussed here. From whatever source the 
light may have descended, it is all important 
that we should avail ourselves of its benefits. 
Logic, as a branch of Moral Philosophy, 
has some claim upon your attention. Though 
custom, often the slave of folly, has nearly 
banished from modern composition the for- 
mal use of the syllogistical art, as displaying 
too much stiffness and affectation, yet the 
principles of Logic ought to be understood. 
Although there are many who can reason 
conclusively, who know not any of the tech- 
nical terms of the art, it by no means follows 
that a knowledge of the system of Logic is 
useless. 



58 LETTERS TO FOUNG 

To be able to distinguish between a sound 
argument and a sophism, so as to lay your 
hand upon the fallacy, and to tear the so- 
phism in pieces, is highly important for a 
defence of the truth, and especially when 
you have to deal with a subtle adversary, 
who prides himself in his scholastic attain- 
ments. " And there are many adversaries 
gone forth into the world, whose mouths 
must be stopped." It is true, that a simple 
query, somewhat in the Socratic method of 
disputation, may often do better in exposing 
the fallacy of a sophistical argument, than a 
laboured refutation clothed in the majesty 
of logical precision ; but, to know how to 
use the former to advantage, you must not 
be ignorant of the latter. 

Reid will give you a Compendium of 
Aristotle's System of Logic, which, however, 
will require some attention to understand the 
reason of its high celebrity in the scientific 
world. Duncan is much admired : but for 
a plain, easy, and intelligible statement and 
illustration of the principles of Logic, Watts 
is to be preferred. He wrote for the benefit 
and instruction of mankind, and not for the 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 89 

purpose of displaying the profoundness of 
his knowledge, or the extensiveness of his 
literary attainments. Wesley has a short 
Treatise upon Logic, which, on account of 
its shortness, is somewhat obscure to those 
who have not had the advantage of a teacher, 
Perhaps it is hardly necessary to repeat 
here, what has already been suggested more 
than once, that whatever branch of study 
you are pursuing, the Holy Scriptures will 
be your daily companion, and prayer and 
holy living your daily employment. For 
after all our attainments in literature, unless 
the "unction of the Holy One" give energy 
to our word, and a correspondent example 
enforce our precepts, we cannot disarm the 
sinner of his objections to Christianity, nor 
confirm the believer in his most holy faith, 
v The studies I have recommended are to be 
considered only as subservient auxiliaries to 
the pure word of truth, which, to be efficient 
in our mouth, must be like fire shut up in 
our bones, producing, by its vehement dame, 
a constant, an ardent thirst for the salvation 
of men. Then, indeed, the word of the 
Lord will be like a hammer to break in 
8* 



90 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

pieces the hard heart, like balm to assuage 
the pains of an accusing conscience, and 
like oil to sooth the mind of the sincere 
believer. 



LETTER IX. 

Rhetoric, or Pulpit Oratory. 

It will doubtless be expected that I should 
recommend the study of Rhetoric, or at 
least of Pulpit Oratory. This I would most 
gladly do, if I perfectly knew how. I will, 
however, submit a few observations on this 
head, which, perhaps, may not be alto- 
gether useless. The whole of what I have 
to say on this subject may be comprehended 
in two words, Be natural. Every child, 
of common capacity, is both an orator and 
a physiognomist. Hence the facility with 
which children awaken our sympathy and 
excite our affection. 

Oratory is nothing more nor less than the 
undisguised and unaffected expression of the 
sentiments and passions of the heart. Thi& 
may be done either with or without words, 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 91 

Hence children before they have learned 
the use of these artificial signs of ideas, 
will, by their natural tones of oratory, ex- 
hibit all the latent passions of the heart, 
whether of sorrow or joy, pain or pleasure^ 
love or hate, and in such a forcible manner 
too, as to attract attention almost irresistibly, 
And no sooner do they begin to make ob- 
servations, than they will watch the counte- 
nance of their parent or nurse, as if anxious 
to ascertain the disposition of their guardian, 
noticing a frown or a smile, with all the par- 
ticularity with which an attentive physiog- 
nomist would mark the expression of your 
countenance, with a view to ascertain your 
present feelings towards them. These in- 
fantile and instinctive gestures, and these 
first symptoms of reason, however forcibly 
or feebly expressed, exhibit an evidence of 
the accuracy of the above observation, that 
oratory is but the natural expression of the 
sentiments of the heart ; and that infants 
evince early traits of genuine eloquence. 
I would, therefore, put you into the nursery, 
and place you under the tuition of a little 
child, in order to teach you Rhetoric, How 



92 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

eloquent was the little child which Jesus 
placed in the midst of the people, in order 
to teach his disciples how they should be 
qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven ! 
Why then, it may be asked, is not every 
man an orator? The answer is obvious. 
Some are marred through bashfulness, some 
by unsuccessful efforts to imitate others, 
some by following those artificial rules which 
are not founded in nature ; and a multitude 
are ruined by contracting in their youth 
awkward gestures, affected habits ; while 
others, to avoid the appearance of enthu- 
siasm, restrain those lofty and ardent feel- 
ings which the nature of their subject is 
calculated to produce. But no man can be 
eloquent on a subject in which he feels not 
deeply interested. Hence many are crimi- 
nally defective in genuine pulpit oratory, 
because their own hearts are not warmed 
and inspired with the truths which their lips 
utter. The appearance of a large audience, 
in which are supposed to be men of science 
and taste, while it inspires some with the 
spirit of eloquence, binds others down with 
timidity, and deprives them of the ability 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL, 93 

to exercise with freedom their own powers. 
Through these and such like means, many 
who otherwise might have warmed all around 
them with the eloquence of truth, have been 
doomed to drawl out their lives in a mono- 
tony of dull sounds, which neither affect 
themselves nor any one else. 

As already observed, unless a man feels 
the solemn weight and importance of the 
subject on which he speaks, it is not pos- 
sible he should be eloquent. It is a lament- 
able fact, that while the mountebank upon 
the stage, inspired by an ardent thirst for 
fame, and feeling the strong impetus of pe- 
cuniary advantage, will make the sentiments 
and passions of his author his own, and ex- 
press himself so appropriately as to excite 
in his audience the alternate passions of love 
and hate, of sorrow and joy, pleasure and 
pain, of admiration and disgust ; the preacher 
of righteousness, though possessing all the 
advantages of the supreme grandeur of his 
subject, sinks even below mediocrity : while 
the former astonishes you with the pathos of 
his manner, the latter either pains you with 
disgust or lulls you to sleep, by indulging in 



94 , LETTERS TO YOUNG 

all the sang froid of a cold calculating phi- 
losopher ; his whole demeanour declaring 
that he feels — if he feels at all — as if neither 
himself nor his hearers had any part or lot 
in the matter. 

This, however, is not the case with all. 
We have our Christian orators, who, inspired 
with the Spirit of their Master, (who spoke as 
never man spake,) acting under a conscious- 
ness of their high calling and tremendous 
responsibility, pour forth the unrestrained 
effusions of hearts replete with love to God 
and man, while their hearers confess, by 
their sobs and groans, that their speaker " is 
sufficiently eloquent." Indeed, when a mi- 
nister of Christ feels the infinite importance 
of his subject, when it presses upon his soul 
as involving the everlasting interests of him- 
self and his listening auditory, though he be 
naturally " rude in speech," he will be elo- 
quent. He will, indeed, as one observes, 
" forget method, forget order, he will forget 
himself," being lost in the tremendous im- 
portance of his subject, and carried out of 
himself in search of the lost souls with which 
he is surrounded. With what majesty does 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 95 

such a man appear ! He preaches not him- 
self, but Jesus Christ. His theme inspires 
him. His inspiration is from above. His 
whole soul is wrapt up in the sublimity, the 
depth, the tremendous solemnities of his 
subject ! The gestures of his body, the 
expression of his eyes, the very muscles of 
his face, all have a tongue, while the tongue 
itself pours forth a torrent of eloquence 
which overwhelms his congregation by its 
impetuous force. How diminutive, in com- 
parison to such a man, does the dull reader 
appear, pleasing himself with the eloquence 
of his well-turned periods, and playing with 
the harmony of his sentences, and priding 
himself upon the high literary character of 
his composition ! 

But if this man have, in addition to a 
sense of the immense weight of his subject, 
q, comprehensive view of the grand system 
of redemption and salvation, a command of 
appropriate language ; if his mind be imbued 
with useful knowledge, and has not through 
timidity or a wrong use of artificial rules, 
contracted an unnatural stiffness and awk- 
wardness of manner and enunciation, but 



96 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

has command of himself as well as his sub- 
ject; he will always exhibit that kind of 
eloquence which will command attention 
and produce effect. Truth, instead of 
freezing upon his lips, will warm his whole 
soul, sanctify and enliven every passion of 
his heart, and produce correspondent emo- 
tions in his audience. He will be less at- 
tentive, — though not entirely inattentive, — 
to the beauty and elegance of language, 
than he will to the clearness of his percep- 
tions, the simplicity of his doctrines, and the 
perspicuity of his illustrations, and the force 
of his appeals to the understandings and 
consciences of his hearers. < A man who 
clearly comprehends his subject, is master 
of his own thoughts, and communicates 
them in chaste and appropriate language, 
will rarely fail, — if a becoming earnestness 
evince the interest he feels in the subject, — 
to succeed in arresting the attention of his 
auditory, or of awakening their minds to 
serious reflection. 

But of all the disgusting practices which 
a man can exhibit in the pulpit, mimickry is 
the most disgusting. I once sat under one 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 97 

of those good meaning souls, and was alter- 
nately chilled and heated ; and sometimes, 
from writhing and twisting, in order to give 
a sort of playfulness to my feelings, I must 
have exhibited gesticulations as awkward as 
my recondite speaker ; for the good-natured 
creature was now aping A., then B. ; now 
assuming the voice of C, then D. ; and in 
some moments of forgetfulness, when his 
subject seemed to call off his attention from 
his numerous prototypes, he spoke in his 
natural tone, which, indeed, was far from 
being disagreeable ; but when he came to 
the lisping sound of S, when an uncommon 
effort was visible to imitate a favourite 
speaker, the teeth and tongue, coming in 
close and continued contact, made such a 
hissing noise, that I was almost thrown from 
my balance, by a strange association of 
ideas ! " Thinks I to myself," when was 
he imported from Africa, that he should yet 
be so much like the monkey breed? Or 
does he think we are all such a set of fools 
as to be pleased with these apish tricks ? 
But another thought happily passed my 
mind, which saved me from the severe 
9 



98 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

mortification I must have felt from exposing 
my weakness before so numerous and re- 
spectable a congregation : a tear was sub- 
stituted for the rising laugh, when I thought 
of the great and striking contrast between 
the awful subject of which he was treating 
and the manner in which it was treated. I 
thought what a pity that a cause in which 
the Saviour of the world bled, for which 
apostles and saints have been burned, should 
be thus degraded, thus trifled with, by ex- 
hibiting over it the disgusting airs of a 
mimicking mountebank ! What rendered 
him more ridiculous still was, when he 
seemed the most engaged in this kind of 
spiritual quackery, he seemed the most ela- 
ted with himself, as though he was then 
displaying the pre-eminent qualities of the 
finished orator. I could but think, what a 
pity this man would not for a moment prefer 
himself to all others, however exalted those 
others might be in his own estimation ; at 
least so far as to be natural. 

Be yourself, then, however ugly that self 
may be. Another man's coat will not suit 
you, however well it may sit on his shoulders. 



MlNfSTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 99 

But still, you will not be contented, I 
suppose, unless you have rules. Well, then, 
first study yourself. 2. Understand your sub- 
ject. 3. Feel its importance. 4. Keep master 
of yourself— that is, be not depressed by 
timidity, nor swoln with self-confidence and 
vanity. 5. While you derive all the know- 
ledge you can from every source, and es- 
pecially from all you hear and read, make 
no efforts to imitate any man, neither in his 
gestures, the intonations of his voice, nor 
the peculiar enunciation of his words. 6, Set 
God always before you; and as if standing 
upon the threshold of eternity, labour as 
though this might be your last effort to save 
those who now hear you. And if you must 
have artificial helps, study Blair, Campbell, 
Maury, Knox, and Wesley. 

But, above all, if you would succeed in 
k accomplishing the all-important end of your 
mission, be most solicitous for the holy 
anointing. While it is said of Stephen that 
" he was a good man," it is added, that he 
was "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost" 
It is, indeed, the inspiration of the Holy 
Ghost which gives to a minister a just claim 



100 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

to his peculiar office, and which fits him for 
the efficient and successful discharge of its 
highly interesting duties. Thus qualified he 
preaches not with " enticing words of man's 
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit 
and of power." His word cuts its way to 
the sinner's heart ; and he confesses that 
God is with His minister of a truth. In the 
fulness of his heart he pours forth the strains 
of divine truth, and his doctrine distils as 
the " dew upon the grass, and as the rain 
upon the tender herb." • 

It might be asked, " What has this to do 
with the evidence of Christianity ?" What 
has this to do with it ! Is it no evidence of 
the truth of a doctrine for its professed ad- 
vocate to preach as if he believed it ? How 
many skeptics have been, as they have 
thought, confirmed in their perpetual doubt- 
ings, by the cold indifferent manner in which 
truths of such acknowledged importance 
have been delivered? How disgusting to 
an intelligent mind to see a man in the pul- 
pit apparently more attentive to himself than 
to his subject, and mumbling over the tre- 
mendous truths of. God with less pathos than 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 101 

a schoolboy would read his lesson ! And is 
it not more disgusting still to see a proud man 
recommending humility, a stiff, haughty man, 
praising the virtues of gentleness and meek- 
ness, a hard-hearted, unconverted man, urg- 
ing the necessity of penitence and conversion, 
and a covetous man recommending the virtue 
of benevolence ? If hypocrisy and inconsist- 
ency be contemptible in any one, it is most 
assuredly so in a professed ambassador of 
God. Let, then, the evidence of truth show 
itself in the sincerity, the earnestness, and 
lowliness of your manner, that those who 
hear you may credit the sincerity of your 
own faith. 



LETTER X. 

Poetry. 

It may be expected that the Poets will 
occupy a place in your library. They ought 
not, indeed, to be wholly excluded. But the 
hill of Parnassus is lofty, and of somewhat 
difficult ascent, so that but few have attained 
the high honour of a commanding station 
9* 



lira 
un 
to 



102 LETTERS TO YOX/SG 

upon its melodious brow. Its sides indeed 
are perforated in many a place by those who 
have scrambled along them, in hopes of pe- 
netrating to the Castalian Spring ; but their 
temerity has been punished by the Patron of 
the Muses, for attempting to tread on for- 
bidden ground. You will not, therefore, be 
dabbling with every pretender to this sub- 
lime art. And even among those who stand 

trivalled for poetical genius, you have need 
to make your selection with caution, on ac- 
count of the impurity of some of their sen- 
timents, and the vulgarity of some of their 
words; but the greatest danger is where 
doubtful sentiments and even most repre- 
hensible doctrines are blended with sublime 
strains of poetry, and with purity and ele- 
gance of language. Even the pure and de- 
licious waters of Zion have been rendered 
tasteless and even sickening, by being blend- 
ed, in the corrupt imagination of the Poet, 
with the turbid waters of heathenism, or in- 
cautiously mixed with the muddy streams of 
merely terrestrial origin. 

Horace stands confessed among the La* 
tins as a Poet of the most elevated genius. 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 103 

But while he has enlivened his Poems with all 
the fire of poetical genius, and graced them 
with all the flowers and elegance of human 
language, he has frequently degraded the 
majesty of his subject by the vulgarity, and ? 
not unfrequently, indecency of his thoughts. 
What a pity that our youth should be led 
through this muddy stream, in order to ar- 
rive at a knowledge of a language now almost 
useless to the greater proportion of the world. 
For this heathen Poet, Francis will furnish 
you with an English dress cleansed from 
some of his impurities. 

Homer among the Greeks stands unri- 
valled on account of the sublimity and energy 
of his poetry ; and he is certainly much more 
chaste than the Latin Poet. Pope and Cow- 
per have both opened a way by which the 
mere English scholar may approach the high 
hill of Olympus, and listen to the harmonious 
numbers and the undulating notes of this fa- 
ther of the Grecian Poets. It is, however, 
chiefly on account of the poetry that you 
will be induced to read him, unless it be 
for the purpose of ascertaining a more cor- 
rect knowledge of heathen mythology, and 



104 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

of heathen morality, and of contrasting them 
to greater advantage with the sublime, the 
simple, the consistent, and the pure theology 
of the gospel. You may, indeed, have your 
imagination fired by reading of 

" That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign 
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain ; 
Whose limbs, unburied on the naked shore, 
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore." 

But while you may admire the genius of the 
Poet, when he assembles 

" The gods in council on the starry hall," 

and view the goddess flying 

" Swift o'er Olympus' hundred hills," 

to summon the imaginary deities of the poet, 
who 

M in long procession came 

To Jove's eternal adamantine dome," 

you will not be much edified or delighted 
with his vivid description of the 

" fierce rage and pale affright" 

of contending, snarling, and warring deities, 
who sport themselves with human blood and 
human misery. And neither will the doughty 
champion, the poet's admired hero of the 
story, the wrathful Achilles, please you much 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 105 

better — whose enduring wrath made even 
his bosom friend say to him ;— 

" No amorous hero caused thy birth, 
Nor ever tender goddess brought thee forth : 
Some rugged rock's hard entrails gave thee form; 
And raging seas produced thee in a storm. 
A soul well suiting that tempestuous kind, 
So rough thy manners, so untamed thy mind, " 

This description, indeed, is characteristic 
of those hardy virtues so famous among the 
ancient statesmen and warriors. But while 
you are ranging through those fields of Gre~ 
cian literature, pause a moment to contrast 
virtuous heathens with virtuous Christians. 
While Achilles smarts and rages under the 
lash of his sovereign's injustice, and sullenly 
indulges in cold-blooded malice against even 
his own countrymen who are bleeding under 
the Trojan's sword, St, Paul, instructed in 
the school of Christ, though far worse treated 
jby his own countrymen, pours forth all the 
sympathies of a soul swelling with grief and 
love, even wishing himself " accursed from 
Christ for his brethren and kinsmen accord- 
ing to the flesh." 

Virgil, though you only hear him through 
Dryden's voice, will awaken all the musical 



106 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

powers of your soul. You cannot but sym- 
pathize in the sorrowful accents of the poet 
and his friends lamenting over the fate of 
their hero, while they 

" Sit and hear the promised lay, 

The gloomy grotto makes a doubtful day. 
The nymphs about the breathless body wait 
Of Daphnis, and lament his cruel fate." 

But how much more touching is the follow- 
ing apostrophe of the leader of IsraePs 
choir ! 

" Oh my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom ! 
Would God I had died for thee, oh Absalom, my 
son, my son !" 

Keeping in mind how far the inspired bards 
of Israel exceed the poets of Greece and 
Rome, both in the grandeur of their subject, 
and in their sublimity of thought and ex- 
pression, you may refresh yourself now and 
then among the groves which surround the 
iEolian mount. It will afford you an in- 
structive view of the various shades of the 
human character, and enable you to make a 
more accurate estimate of the merits and 
tendency of the two systems of religion — 
Paganism and Christianity. Even in the 
gods, so often introduced as the principal 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 107 

actors in these bloody scenes of ancient date, 
you will see human nature exalted and de- 
based ; for they were nothing more than 
human beings, invested with such and such 
attributes by the vivid imagination of the 
poet, for the purpose of heightening the 
grandeur and of increasing the solemnity of 
his poem; and their frequent interference 
was announced for the purpose of account- 
ing for the marvellous occurrences, so far 
transcending the power and sagacity of hu- 
man beings, which he records. 

The intermediate days between the bright 
morn of ancient science and the more efful- 
gent rays which shine in modern days, you 
may pass over, as not being sufficient to re- 
pay you for the time and labour you must 
expend to explore them, and muse yourself 
awhile among the bards of the " fast an- 
chored Isle." The immortal Milton, whose 
sublime genius soared to heaven, and re- 
counted the wars of the celestial regions, 
will fire your soul with devotion, while he 
illuminates your understanding with import- 
ant truths. Yes, he will tell you with all 



108 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

the force of poetical energy, and all the 
pathos of a firm believer, how 



1 The infernal Serpent"- 



-" with ambitious aim'' 



Against the throne and monarchy of God 
Raised impious war in heaven, and battle proud, 
With vain attempt." 

Nor will he neglect to inspire your soul with 
a love and veneration for the man of invin- 
cible fidelity, by the example of 

" Abdiel, faithful found 
Among the faithless, faithful only he ; 
Among innumerable false, unmoved." 

But your soul will be exalted to the high- 
est pitch of devotion, as well as filled with 
lowly reverence, at the sight of the Son of 
God, who, after expressing his acquiescence 
to the will of His Divine Father, rose 

" From the right hand of Glory where he sat, 
As the third sacred morn began to shine, 
Dawning through heaven" — 

And with what eagerness will you view him 

in pursuit of the " rebel crew," mounted 

upon 

" The chariot of Paternal Deity, 
Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel un- 
drawn," 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 109 

while you see the rebellious hosts of heaven 
like 

" Goats or timorous flocks together throng'd," 

" headlong themselves they throw 

Down from the verge of heaven." 

Nor will you be less delighted at beholding 
the uncreated Son, 

" Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crown'd 
Of majesty divine," 

going forth to create new worlds, nor ceased 
until 

" Heaven in all her glory shone, and roll'd 
Her motions, as the great first Mover's hand 
First wheePd their course." 

Milton's rebel Angels will show you hu- 
man nature in its worst form ; for his pro- 
totypes were, it is presumed, all found among 
the turbulent spirits of the rough age in 
which the poet lived. 

Young, in his poetical lucubrations, will 
"teach you 

" To revere thyself— and yet thyself despise." 

While he mournfully complains of 

" The inextinguishable thirst in man 

To know" — and to enjoy 
" The momentary breeze of vain renown," 

and endeavours to reclaim the infidel from 
10 



110 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

his delusive dreams of human greatness and 
happiness, by telling him that 

" The visible and present are for brutes," and but 
" A slender portion !" 

he also sings of God, of Creation, of Re- 
demption, and closes his bold and sublime 
song with death and immortality. With him, 
therefore, you mount the skies, and look 
down upon the 

" Terrestrial citadel of man" 

with a mixture of sorrow and delight. After 
having shown you the emptiness of all 
earthly grandeur, and the short -livedness of 
" earth-born joys," he leads you to the 
living fountain ; 

" Redundant bliss ! which fills that empty void 
The whole creation leaves in human hearts." 

With what irresistible swiftness does he lift 
your soul to the throne of the Eternal, and 
make you long after immortality, when he 
says, 

" In ardent contemplation's rapid car 
From earth as from a barrier I set out. 
How swift I mount !" 



-" On nature's Alps I stand, 



And see a thousand firmaments beneath ! 
A thousand systems as a thousand grains !" 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. Ill 

How much are we indebted to affliction for 
some of the finest sentiments, and some of 
the sublimest pieces of composition ! The 
exquisite grief of the Poet pressed from him 
some of the most hallowed strains of his 
immortal Poem. 

In addition to the beauties and elegances 
of poesy, abounding in the two last men- 
tioned authors, the pure strain of evangelical 
doctrine running through the whole, makes 
them an instructive companion for a minis- 
ter of the Lord Jesus. 

Notwithstanding the comparative paucity 
of truly poetical compositions, yet, when 
viewed in a cluster, they form no contempt- 
ible number, emitting rays of various bright- 
ness : while some mount to heaven and soar 
among the stars, others spread before you 
as on a canvas, in animated and vivid co- 
lours, the variegated beauties of the earth, 
not forgetting its lordly inhabitant, maa, 
Thomson may amuse you with 

" woodlands warbling" while you 

" trace up the brooks" 

and 

" Pursue their rocky channel'd maze 
Down to the river, in whose ample wave 
Their little Nereids love to sport at large." 



112 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

And from the opening blossoms of Spring, 
he will conduct you forward to behold the 
ripening fruits of Summer and Autumn, and 
entertain you with a sight of 

" gathering men their natural powers combined 

And form'd a public ; to the general good 
Submitting, aiming, and conducting all." 

After soothing all your powers to sweet 
tranquillity by his smooth flowing numbers, 
and fanning you to rest with the gentle breath 
of Autumnal zephyrs, he will awaken you to 
prepare for the stern blast of a dreary win- 
ter's night, when 

" the lower'd tempest" 

" The mountain thunders ; and its sturdy sons 
Stoop to the bottom of the rocks they shade. 
'Lone on the midnight steep, and all aghast, 
The dark wayfaring stranger breathless toils, 
And, often falling, climbs against the blast. 75 

With him also you may sit 

" High on the beetling cliff," and 
" Let the classic page thy fancy lead 
Through rural scenes" 

Nor will Thomson fail to inspire you 
with a veneration for the great Author of 
those seasons which afforded such variety 
of matter for his trembling and soaring Muse. 






MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 113 

Who can read the following lines without 
feeling an awful sense of the majesty of the 
great Supreme ? 

" These, as they change, Almighty Father, these 
Are but the varied God. The rolling year 
Is full of Thee. Forth in the pleasing Spring 
Thy beauty walks, Thy tenderness and love." 

Coioper unites the beauties of Poetry with 
the truths of Revelation, and while he 
teaches 

" Domestic happiness," as the only bliss 
" Of Paradise, that has survived the fall," 

he does not forget to 

" Recommend, though at the risk 

Of popular disgust, yet boldly still, 

The cause of piety, and sacred truth, 

And virtue, and those scenes which God ordain'd 

Should best secure them." 

And among other interesting subjects upon 
which he sung, even the preacher of righte- 
ousness may find much that is suited to his 
Jiigh and holy office. Yes, he will tell you that 

-" the pulpit 

Must stand acknowledged while the world shall stand, 

The most important and effectual guard, 

Support, and ornament of Virtue's cause." 

- — — " In man or woman, but far most in man, 

And most of all in man that ministers 

And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe 

All affectation." — . — 

10* 



114 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

Goldsmith will tell you that 

"From labour is health, from health, contentment 
springs, 
Contentment opes the source of every joy." 

And after toiling for the public good, and 
exposing yourself to public applause or cen- 
sure, you can, from a consciousness of the 
purity and uprightness of your motive and 
conduct, retire within yourself, and with him 
exclaim, 

" Oh blest retirement ! friend to life's decline. 

Retreats from vice 

How blest is he who crowns, in shades like these, 
A youth of labour with an age of ease." 

Beware of Pope. He enchants you with 
his flowing numbers, while he poisons you 
with his pernicious sentiments. He sings 
sweetly upon frothy subjects ; and even in 
his " Essay on Man," the most admired of 
all, he confounds good and evil, and, in per- 
fect imitation of his brother heathen, resolves 
all things into the decrees of immutable fate. 
His Dunciad, a description of the poetical 
Dunces of the age, as the title indicates, and 
the Poem itself proves it to be, while it 
evinces the sprightliness of his genius, and 
his admirable art in pointing the javelin of 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 115 

irony at folly ; also betrays the vexations of 
an envious mind, in which rankling jealousy 
was perpetually disturbing his peace and 
tranquillity. And that he wrote on subjects 
which he did not understand, even his bio- 
grapher, Johnson, admits, while he warmly 
applauds his poetry, and professes to admire 
his intellectual strength. Nor is it less evi- 
dent that his principles and moral habits 
were extremely lax and uneven. 

His Homer, however, has immortalized 
his name among Poets, and laid the mere 
English Scholar under a large debt of grati- 
tude for having introduced him to this Gre- 
cian Bard. But much of the delight which 
his " Messiah," and his " Vital Spark," and 
his " Universal Prayer," might afford, is lost 
by the necessary association of the work 
with the man. You may, however, cull 
some flowers from him, if you are careful 
in your selection. Beattie, Gray, and 
Campbell, will each in his turn afford you 
some moments of relaxation from severer 
duties and studies* 

We shall pass over other names, *o intro- 
duce you to those with whom, we trust, you 



116 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

have already formed some acquaintance. 
Watts you need not despise ; but the Wes- 
leys you will hold in the highest estimation ; 
for, if they may not be ranked among the 
sublimest of poets, they are certainly among 
the most pious and spiritual. However, it 
may be questioned whether, in point of 
poetical excellence, you will find any thing 
superior to some of their compositions. You 
cannot read the piece of which the follow- 
ing is a part, without feeling your soul 
touched with the poet's fire, and your mind 
transported beyond the ken of earthly 
things . — 

'■ Upborne aloft on venturous wing, 

While, spurning earthly themes, I soar, 

Through paths untrod before, 
What God, what seraph shall I sing? 
Whom but thee should I proclaim 
Author of this wondrous frame ? 

Eternal, uncreated Lord, 
Enshrined in Glory's radiant blaze ! 

At whose prolific voice, whose potent word, 
Commanded, nothing swift retired, and worlds 
began their race." 
" Lo ! marching o'er the empty space 

The fluid stores in order rise 
With adamantine chains of liquid glass, 

To bind the new-born fabric of the skies. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 117 

Downward the Almighty Builder rode, 
Old Chaos groan'd beneath the God, 

Sable clouds his pompous car, 
Harnest winds before him ran, 

Proud to wear their Maker's chain, 
And told with hoarse-resounding voice his coming 
from afar." 

But to feel the force and to taste the beau- 
ties of this hymn, which is poetically grand, 
you must read the whole of it. Nor is the 
following less grand and sublime : 

" Thou shinest with everlasting rays ; 
Before the insufferable blaze 

Angels with both wings veil their eyes : 
Yet free as air thy bounty streams 
On all thy works, thy mercy's beams 

Diffusive, as thy sun's, arise. 
Astonish'd at thy frowning brow, 
Earth, hell, and heaven's strong pillars bow j 

Terrible majesty is thine ! 
Who then can that vast love express, 
Which bows thee down to me, who less 

Than nothing am, till thou art mine. 
High throned on heaven's eternal hill, 
In number, weight, and measure still, 

Thou sweetly order'st all that is ! 
And yet thou deign'st to come to me, 
And guide my steps, that I with thee 

Enthroned, may reign in endless bliss." 

But the peculiar excellence of the Wes- 
leys' poetry consists in the deep vein of piety 



118 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

which runs through the whole, and the pure 
stream of evangelical doctrine which flows 
so uniformly, and with which the mind is 
continually refreshed. 

Perhaps it may be proper to close what 
we have to say under this head, by observing 
that, though it may be lawful on some occa- 
sions to introduce poetry into sermons, yet a 
copious use of it is by no means allowable. 
But this must be done, if done to profit, with 
a sparing and judicious hand, or the effect 
designed will be lost. 



LETTER XL 

Use of Studying the Languages. 

" But must I not study the Languages ?" 
If you have studied language, and can speak 
and write your vernacular tongue correctly 
and grammatically, it will not be labour lost 
to acquire a knowledge of other languages ; 
and especially of those in which the Holy 
Scriptures were first written. There is, in- 
deed, an indescribable satisfaction in being 
able to read and understand the inspired 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 119 

writings in the language in which " holy 
men of God spoke as they were moved by 
the Holy Ghost." One advantage resulting 
from this sort of study is, that it familiarizes 
the mind to the sacred volume, and com- 
municates a knowledge of divinity at the 
same time that it introduces us to an ac- 
quaintance with the venerable languages of 
antiquity, and also, if it be accompanied with 
a historical knowledge of those times, en- 
ables us better to understand the point of an 
allusion to ancient customs and maxims, 
now obsolete, but with which the Scriptures 
abound. 

We do not, indeed, subscribe to the 
opinion that we cannot acquire a grammati- 
cal knowledge of our own language, with- 
out a previous knowledge of the Latin ; 
because the grammar of a language is but a 
critical analysis of that particular language, 
the principles of which the grammarian un- 
folds and displays before his students ; and, 
therefore, a man may have a critical know- 
ledge of the Latin or any other foreign 
tongue, and yet not perfectly understand 
the peculiar idioms of his own : and, indeed, 



120 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

this is a prevailing fault in many ot our 
English Grammars, that they have been 
constructed more in conformity to the Latin 
idioms, than to the peculiarity of their own 
language. Hence the retention of such 
technicals as adjective, adverbs, &c, which 
really have no meaning to the mere English 
scholar, until he is told that an adjective 
qualifies the noun to which it belongs, and 
that an adverb is added to a verb to modify 
its sense ; and what more does he know 
about the meaning of a conjunction, until he 
is informed that it serves to conjoin or to 
connect two or more words together in the 
same sentence ? And what does the mere 
Englishman know about the meaning of a 
pronoun, until he is told it comes from two 
Latin words, pro, for, and nomine, name, 
and hence by a pronoun we are to under- 
stand for, instead of a name, which makes 
it, properly speaking, a substitute for a 
noun ? It was not intended to have said so 
much upon this head; but one thought 
seemed to suggest another, while thinking 
upon the absurd notion kept in countenance 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 121 

by a pedantic and affected veneration for a 
foreign language, that we cannot acquire a 
grammatical knowledge of our own tongue 
independently of another ; whereas the truth 
is, we have paid such a blind and supersti- 
tious reverence to the ancient and dead lan- 
guages, that we have learned to despise our 
own, until we think it needful to treat it with 
contempt, and even neglect its cultivation ; 
and then to apologize for our ignorance of 
its beauties and peculiarities by an affected 
acquaintance with, and popish reverence for, 
an imported language. And our Lexicogra- 
phers, instead of tracing our native words 
up to their roots in the language from whence 
they are derived, the Jlnglo- Saxon, are per- 
petually amusing us with forced analogies 
between our own and those languages with 
which it is but remotely connected. It is 
true, that many of our words, particularly 
terms of art, and those which are peculiarly 
appropriate to some of the sciences, are 
derived from the Greek and Latin tongues, 
or rather are Greek and Latin words an- 
glicized. This has doubtless tended to 
11 



122 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

enrich our language, and to make it more 
copious.* 

I am not therefore among those who think 
a knowledge of the ancient languages a su- 
perfluous acquisition. On the contrary, I am 
of opinion that it very much facilitates a 
critical knowledge of the English, especially 
in the department of Etymology, the know- 

*Some time after the above was written, tbe following 
remarks from Dr. Adam Clarke appeared in the Wesleyan 
Methodist Magazine ; and though they are republished 
in our Magazine, they may not be within the reach of all 
into whose hands these Letters may fall. I therefore 
take the liberty of appending them in this note to my 
little Book. 

Cursory Remarks, on the English Tongue, and on the 
present prevailing mode of Public Education. — By the 
Rev. Adam Clarke, ll. d. 

" Dear Sir, — Dr. John Wallis was savilian professor 
of geometry in the university of Oxford in 1649. In 
1653 he published a grammar of the English language in 
Latin, which, though diffuse, is a work of great merit. 
It would have been well, if subsequent grammarians of 
our language, who appear not to have seen it, had really 
known it and made it their model ; and that some others 
who have borrowed from it, had run much more into the 
doctor's debt, that our obligations to them might have 
been the greater. He excelled in etymology, for his ha- 
bits as a geometer led him to sift every subject to its hot- 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 123 

ledge of which conducts us to an acquaint- 
ance with the radical meaning of terms, 
which, indeed, is often essential to a correct 
understanding of them. You may take an 
instance of the utility of this sort of know- 
ledge in our word conscience, which comes 
from two Latin words, con, joint or together, 
and scientia, science or knowledge, and there- 

tom, and trace every branch or even filament of language 
to its radix. He is the author of the verses under the 
word Twister in Dr. Johnson's dictionary, which the 
doctor calls remarkable, and says, " they explain twist in 
all its senses." The occasion on which these verses 
were composed was the following : A very learned 
Frenchman conversing with Dr. Wallis towards the close 
of the year 1653, expatiating on the copiousness of his 
native language, and its richness in derivatives and 
synonymes, produced, in proof, four verses on rope' 
making, which he appears to have composed for the pur- 
pose ; they are the following, and though technically 
formed, are admirably smooth and expressive : 

Quand un cordier, cordant, veultcorder une corde 5 
Pour sacorde corder, trois cordons il accorde: 
Mais, si un des cordons de la corde decorde, 
Le cordon decordant fait decorder la corde. 

To show that the English language was at least equally 
rich and copious, Dr. Wallis immediately translated the 
verses into English, word for word, and of equal sylla- 
bles, taking the word twist for the Frenchman's word 
corde. 



124 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

fore signifies joint knowledge, or the know- 
ledge of two or more things ; which shows 
that our ancestors, in the formation of their 
words, thought as well as spoke. The affinity 
between the English, French, and Latin lan- 
guages, enables them mutually to explain 
each other, so that the knowledge of the 
one leads to an acquaintance with the others, 

When a twister, a-twisting, will twist hiin a twist 5 
For the twisting of his twist, he three twines doth intwist: 
But if one of the twines of the twist do untwist, 
The twine that untwisteth, untwisteth the twist. 

Here were nouns, verbs, participles, and synonymes, 
precisely equal to those of the Frenchman, in number, 
quantity, and force ; but to show that the riches* of his 
language were not exhausted, he added the four follow- 
ing, which continue the subject : — 

Untwiriing the twine that untwisted between, 
He twirls with his twister the two in a twine; 
Then twice having twisted the twines of the twine, 
He twitcheth the twine, he had twined, in twain. 

The French funds being previously exhausted, no at- 
tempt could be made to bring in a parallel The English 
mine, however, was still rich ; and to show that it could 
be still worked to advantage, Dr. Wallis added the fol- 
lowing quatrain : — 

The twain that in twining before in the twine, 
As twins were intwisted, he now doth untwine $ 
'Twixt the twain intertwisting a twine more between, 
He twirling his twister, makes a twist of the twine. 

I question much whether there is a language in the 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 125 

while the peculiar idiom of each shows them 
to be derived from different sources, The 
Greek language will exhibit many words, es- 
pecially terms of art and of science, the ver- 
bal signification of which is lost to the mere 
English scholar; but which, when traced 
to their simple terms, we perceive to have 
an appropriate meaning, having been com- 

universe capable of such a variety of flections, or which 
can afford so many terms and derivatives, all legitimate, 
corning from one radix, without borrowing a single term 
from any other tongue, or coining one for the nonce ; 
for there is not a word used above by Dr. Wallis, that is 
not pure anglo- Saxon, not one exotic being entertained ; 
for the preposition inter, which might have been avoided, 
does not belong to the radix, and only serves to show it 
in another state ; and as for the preposition in, we have 
not borrowed it from the Latin, as some suppose, as it 
is a pure English word, and is found in many terms of 
the anglo-Saxon. 

I have questioned whether any other language could 
produce a root from which such a number of derivatives 
could be formed to explain a trade or manual operation, 
in all its parts. I doubt whether the Arabic, with all its 
oppressive fecundity of terms for the same thing, or the 
Persian, with all its privileges of borrowing from the 
Arabic, and creating participles, &c, ad libitum, would 
not both fail on the trial. I think also that the best 
Grecian in the land would be puzzled to find any sort of 
legitimate parallel to the English verses ; and as for the 
11* 



126 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

pounded and naturalized by men of deep 
thought and attentive observation. And in 
no department of study do these have a 
more important meaning than in Christian 
Theology, the name itself importing a dis- 
course concerning God, contradistinguished 
from all other systems of Theology, by be- 
ing called after Christ, the anointed One. 

Latin, it will fall miserably short, as the following ex- 
ample will prove : it is a translation which Dr. Wallis 
himself made, of his own verses, at the request of a 
foreign nobleman : — 

Quum Restiarius aliquis, conficiendis — torquendo funibus-jam 

occupatus, vult sibi funem-tortilem contorqendo conficere 3 
Quo huuc sibi tortilem-funem torquendo conficiat,tria contortu- 

apta-filamenta complicanda-invicem-associat 
Verum si, ex contortis illis in fune filamenlis unum forte se- 

explicando complicationi-exiniat 3 
Hoc ita - se - explicando - dissocians filamentura funem - torsione- 

factum detorquendo resolvit. 
Hie autem, celeriter evolvendo-retexens intermedium illud quod 

se-explicando dissociaverat filamentum 5 
Versorio suo torsionis-instrumento, duo reliqna celeri-volvens- 

turbine-contorquet, funiculum-ex-binis-filamentis inde con- 

ficiens, 
Turn vero quura jam secunda-vice torquendo-convolverat funi- 

culi-bi-ehordis bina filamenta; 
Quern ex-binis-filamentis torquendo-concin-naverat funiculum, 

raptim diveilendo dirimit. 
Tandem, quae torquendo pridem in funiculo bi-membri filamenta 

duo. 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 127 

As all words in the Hebrew language are 
derived from verbs of the third person sin- 
gular, preterite, which of course signify 
either being, suffering, or acting, it affords 
no small instruction to ascertain the ideal 
or radical meaning of Hebrew words, as we 
shall thereby be enabled more accurately as 
well as philosophically to trace the progress 

Tanquam gemellos una consociaverat-torquendo, jam detor- 

quendo dissociat: 
Et binis illU filamentum adhuc aliud intermedium interserendo 

consocians, 
Versorium ille suum gyro-celeri fortiter-versando, ex funiculo- 

bimembri plurimembrem torquendo-conficit funem. 

The English, of which this is a literal translation, amounts 
in the whole to 109 words, small and great, while the 
Latin makes 144 ; and whereas the English has but one 
radix, from which all the derivatives come, the Latin is 
obliged to use upwards of 20 different words, varied as 
far as they can bear, in order to express this one root } 
and its branches ! Dr. Wailis gives an analysis of the 
English verses, in which he considers two as the primi- 
tive or radical word, and the others all derivatives from 
this one radix. 

Why is not such a language as this better studied ? 
Why is it not studied analytically ? It is by its analysis 
that we can discover its force and truth. It is the lan- 
guage of every art and of every science, for there is none 
other in which they can be so well and so intelligibly de- 
scribed. Whatever has been effected by the greatest 
Grecian or Roman orator, can be effected by the English- 



128 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

of language, and to perceive the mutual re- 
lation and dependance one word has with 
and upon another. But this is not the only- 
advantage to be derived from a knowledge 
of this ancient, and, as some think, primi- 
tive language. 

In the names of persons, places, and 
things, all of which are now classed among 

man who fully understands his mother tongue ; and per- 
haps, above all the languages of all the babbling nations 
of the earth, the English is that in which the sublime 
science of salvation can be best explained and illustrated, 
and the things of God most forcibly and effectually 
recommended ! 

When I had almost finished the preceding remarks, 
there fell into my hand the speech delivered by that very 
enlightened nobleman, the earl of Moira, iate governor- 
general of India, before the members of the college of 
Calcutta, some time in 1314, which bears so strongly on 
the subject of the excellency of the English language, 
that I feel no ordinary pleasure in being able to enrich 
this paper with a short extract from it. After apolo- 
gizing for bringing before the learned members of that 
institution, (on the day professedly devoted to applaud 
and stimulate proficiency in the Asiatic languages,) any 
thing relative to the English tongue, he proceeds in the ' 
following strain of just and eloquent description : — 

" Regard it (the English language) not, I beseech you, 
as the mere medium of ordinary intercourse. It is a 
mine, whence you may extract the means of enchanting, 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 129 

nouns, but were primarily either derived 
from verbs, or were merely adjectives or 
adverbs, we shall be able to perceive the 
reason why the name was so appropriated, 
because the name itself was suggested by 
some circumstance connected with the 
place, some quality of the thing, or some 
action of the creature, or by some peculiar 

instructing, and improving communities yet nameless, 
and generations yet unborn. Our English language has 
never had adequate tribute paid to it. 

" Among the languages of modern Europe, specious, 
but subordinate pretensions have been advanced to ca~ 
dence, terseness, or dextrous ambiguity of insinuation ; while 
the sober majesty of the English tongue stood aloof, and 
disdained a competition on the ground of such inferior 
particularities, i even think that we have erred with 
regard to Greek and Latin. Our sense of the inestimable 
benefit we have reaped from the treasures of taste and 
science, which they have handed down to us, has led us 
into an extravagance of reverence for them. They have 
high intrinsic merit, without doubt, but it is a bigoted 
gratitude, and an unweighed admiration, which induce us 
to prostrate the character of the English tongue before 
their altar. Every language can furnish to genius, 
casually, a forcible expression ; and a thousand turns of 
neatness and delicacy mky be found in most of them : 
but I will confidently assert, that, in that which should 
be the first object in all language, precision, the English 
tongue surpasses them all : while in richness of colour* 



130 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

circumstance attending the birth of the per- 
son. Of the truth of this, the mere Eng- 
lish reader may be convinced by consulting 
his Bible, and observing the marginal refer- 
ences. Now, although we may repose con- 
fidence, generally, in the knowledge and 
integrity of our translators of the Bible, yet 
it is no small satisfaction to be able to fol- 

ing, and extent of power, it is exceeded by none, if equal- 
led by any. What subject is there within the boundless 
range of imagination which some British author has not 
clothed in British phrase, with a nicety of definition, an 
accuracy of portraiture, a brilliancy of tint, a delicacy of 
discrimination, and a force of expression* which must be 
sterling, because every other nation of Europe, as well 
as our own, admits their perfection with enthusiasm ! 

" Are the fibres of the heart to be made to tremble 
with anxiety, — to glow with animation, — to thrill with 
horror, — to startle with amaze, — to shrink with awe, — 
to throb with pity, or to vibrate in sympathy with the 
tone of pictured love ; know ye not the mighty magicians 
of our country, whose potent spell has commanded, and 
•continues irresistibly to command, these varied im- 
pulses ? Was it a puny engine, a feeble art, that achieved 
such wondrous workings ? What was the sorcery ? 
Justly conceived collocation of words* is the whole secret 
of this witchery ; a charm within the reach of any of 
you. Possess yourselves of the necessary energies, and 
be assured you will find the language exuberant beyond 
the demand of your intensest thought. How many po- 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 131 

low the streams to their fountains, or of 
tracing words to their respective roots, and 
of observing how the branches of these ver- 
bal trees were anciently formed. 

But alter all that may be said upon this 
subject, the leading principles of grammar 
are the same in all languages, only they 
differ in the details according to the pecu- 

sitions are there which form the basis of every day's 
reflection ; the matter for the ordinary operation of our 
minds, which were toiled after perhaps for ages, before 
they were seized and rendered comprehensible ! How 
many subjects are there which we ourselves have grasped 
at, as if we saw them floating in an atmosphere just 
above us, and found the arm of our intellect but just too 
short to reach them : and then comes a happier genius, 
who, in a fortunate moment, and from some vantage 
ground, arrests the meteor in its flight ; and grasps the 
floating phantom ; drags it from the skies to the earth ; 
condenses that which was but an impalpable corrusca- 
tion of spirit ; fetters that which was but the lightning 
glance of thought ; and having so mastered it, bestows it 
as a perpetual possession and heritage on mankind !" 

What a pity, that with a language, and such treasures 
in it, the best part of the lives of so many of our youth 
should be spent, if not wasted, in studies and in lan- 
guages, that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, serve 
only to pass through the forms of schools and colleges, 
and however they may have acquitted themselves in 
Greek and Latin, Mathematics, and a still inefficient 



132 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

liarity of idiom which predominates in each. 
And it should not be forgotten, though it 
may be somewhat humbling to the learned 
philologist, that language existed, both ver- 
bal and written, long before any grammar 
was either studied or taught : hence it fol- 
lows that grammatical treatises are but arti- 
ficial arrangements of the materials furnished 

Aristotelian philosophy, enter upon life with scarcely a 
requisite for passing honourably and usefully through it ; 
many of them not being able properly to ready scarcely 
at all to analyze, and hardly to spell their mother tongue ! 
I have seen private letters of the most learned man of 
the seventeenth century, who, besides Greek and Latin, 
of which he was a master, possessed such a knowledge 
of the seven Asiatic languages as perhaps no man then in 
Europe did, and wrote upon and explained them with 
profound accuracy, and yet was so ignora?it of his own 
native English tongue, that he could neither construct 
nor spell a single sentence with propriety ! How many 
of the rising generation are returning daily from very 
expensive seminaries of learning, who are sadly deficient 
in a proper knowledge of language, who cannot parse 
a single sentence correctly, so as to show the force of 
the words, the concord and government, and the proper 
or improper collocation of the terms ! 
** Let every foreign tongue alone, 
Till you can read and spell your own," 

is a sound piece of advice, comes from high authority, 
and should be treated with great respect. 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 133 

by nature, variously combined and expressed 
by the organs of speech, in order to com- 
municate thought for thought : and hence 
also, after all the nice and methodical ar- 
rangements of the skilful linguist, who dis- 
sects the language into its elementary prin- 
ciples, the many exceptions to his general 
rules, nature thereby evincing its determi- 

I do not speak against learning, — nor even think against 
it, nor against proper seminaries for learning, whether 
they rank as schools or colleges : but I speak against use- 
less and deficient education. I speak against the pre- 
posterous plan of teaching our English youth, any thing 
or every thing but their mother tongue. 

Parents would do well to inquire most pointedly into 
the character and qualifications of the boarding schools 
to which they send their daughters ; and the academies 
and colleges to which they send their sons. Let them 
never sacrifice their sterling coin for the tinsel lackering 
and gilding of learning. Let them give all diligence 
that their children may be taught what will make them 
useful to themselves, profitable to others, and respectable in 
society. As to boarding schools, I may beg humbly to 
look into them at some future time. — I say nothing to 
the necessity of attending to the advice of the wise man, 
" Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he 
is old he will not depart from it." This, I believe, was 
never better understood than in the present age, and at 
no time more practically applied, and hence there is at 
this time a greater proportion of moral and pious vouths 

12 



134 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

nation to resist the innovations of the artist, 
and its stubbornness to yield its prior de- 
mands to the taste and rules of human art 
and contrivance. The pruning knife of the 
judicious critic may lop off some of the 
wild luxuriances of nature, and his mandate 
may restrain the avidity of ingrafting redun- 
dancies from a foreign stalk ; but he cannot 
make the unbending laws of nature so pliable 
as to suit all his artificial rules, no more than 
he can entirely curb the whims and fancies 
of those who vainly imagine that they can 
improve the beauty of their own language 

than was ever before in this country, or is now in any 
other country in the world. To God be praise for ever ! 
this is a proper initiatory education, but it is not that 
concerning which I now write, — I plead for the necessity 
of a good English education, and for making Latin and 
Greek subservient to it when they are studied. Let our 
British youth be taught the language of life, — the lan- 
guage of those with whom they are to transact the 
business of life, — the language that is rich and powerful 
beyond all languages of the universe : — in a word, let 
them be thoroughly taught the language of Britain. 
I am, dear sir, yours truly, 

Adam Clarke. 
Eastcott, Jan. 1, 1825." 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 135 

by the perpetual introduction of foreign 
terms. 

Do you inquire for books ? In mention- 
ing these I shall keep in mind for whose 
benefit I am writing ; and therefore shall re- 
commend only those which are fittest for such 
persons. Parkhurst's Hebrew and Greek 
Lexicons, Hedericus 5 Lexicon, Pike's and 
Frey's Grammars and Lexicons, Ewing's 
and Dawson's Greek Lexicons, Middleton 
on the Greek Article, a Hebrew Bible, the 
Septuagint, or Greek translation of the Old 
Testament, Griesbach's or Leusden's 
Greek New Testament, will be sufficient 
for your purpose, unless you wish to study 
the Greek and Latin classics ; but if you 
have not already, in the course of your 
youthful studies, obtained some knowledge 
of the Latin and Greek languages, it will be 
hardly worth your expense of time and la- 
bour, unless you have youth on your side, to 
undertake at this time, in your present em- 
ployment, to plod through them. Of the 
propriety of this, however, you must be your 
own judge. 

It ought, nevertheless, to be recollected 



136 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

that the same necessity does not now exist 
for a knowledge of the learned languages, 
as did formerly, when almost all the learned 
professions were taught through the medium 
of either the Greek, Latin, or French lan- 
guage. The case is now widely different. 
Not only the Scriptures, but most of the 
ancient authors, are rendered into Eng- 
lish, and also all the arts and sciences, 
which were so long hidden in a dead lan- 
guage, are now taught in the language of 
our own country. And, indeed, a man that 
understands his native tongue, may acquire 
through that medium alone, a knowledge of 
every branch of science which is necessary 
for him to know ; and a man may be pro- 
nounced truly learned, without going beyond 
the precincts of his own native language. 
Yes, more knowledge is spread before the 
mere English scholar, than any one man 
can master, were he to devote his whole life 
to retirement and study ; and the field is 
continually enlarging by the labours of 
scientific men. 

But in the study of language, whether of 
our own or of another, we should remem- 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 137 

ber, that its only use is to be an organ of 
communication from one person to another ; 
and hence its utility is to be estimated in 
proportion to its subserviency to this ulterior 
object ; and, therefore, just so far as the 
knowledge of languages becomes an aux- 
iliary to the minister in explaining and en- 
forcing the truths of the gospel, so far it 
should be sought after. With this object in 
view, which alone will sanctify the pursuit, 
you may labour, especially to read the Old 
Testament in the Hebrew, and both the Old 
and New in Greek. The study of these 
languages, particularly with the aid of Park- 
hurst's Lexicons, will enrich your mind with 
divine truth, and open to your soul a field of 
intellectual pleasure and delight, which will 
amply repay you for the many hours of 
tedious application which it may cost you. 
I cannot conclude without one caution. 
It is 'this : whatever knowledge you may 
obtain of this sort, you must remember that 
you are not called to preach either in Latin, 
Greek, or Hebrew ; and therefore the in- 
troduction of these words, with a view to 
criticise upon the translation, should be as 
12* 



138 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

sparing as possible. In addition to the dis- 
gusting spectacle of a pedantic preacher 
instructing mankind in the lessons of Chris- 
tian humility, it tends rather to weaken the 
confidence of the major part of your hear- 
ers in the faithfulness and integrity of those 
words of the Holy Scripture which long use 
has made familiar to their minds. Though 
it may be granted that in many places the 
translation might be mended by substituting 
a modern term for one that has become 
obsolete, and in some cases by changing 
the tense and mood of the verb, or by al- 
tering the translation of a particle ; yet this 
changing should be resorted to only in cases 
of absolute necessity, when the truth cannot 
be otherwise rescued from the hands of its 
adversary ; and even in that case, it is gene- 
rally better, when before a congregation, to 
conceive and clothe the idea in an easy and 
popular paraphrase, than to deaden an au- 
dience who know not what you say, by a 
rehearsal of an unknown language, and by 
a criticism which may raise a suspicion of 
vanity, instead of inspiring a confidence in 
your wisdom and integrity. 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 139 

And a Thus saith the Lord, has more 
weight on an English audience than a thou- 
sand words of the same import in Hebrew, 
Greek, or Latin, which none of them un- 
derstand. O'nSt loan may be understood 
by a Hebraist, and H^ctfo au7ou 6 Iqtfous, 
might suit a Grecian ear, while In qua men- 
sura mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis, might 
make an agreeable sound in the ear of a La- 
tin scholar, and a Frenchman would under- 
stand JVc jugez point, ajin que vous ne soyez 
point juges ; but how much more pleasant 
and edifying would it be to an English 
audience to express the same things. Oratio 
vulgo accommodata, in a popular discourse, 
in the following manner : — And then said 
God — Jesus touched him — For whatsoever 
measure ye mete it shall be measured to you 
again ! — Judge not, that ye be not judged. 

It is very possible to astonish the ignorant 
with an affected appearance of learning, 
while we disgust the learned by the igno- 
rance and vanity which we exhibit in striving 
to appear what we are not. Sound learn- 
ing, combined with deep experience, will 
ever be productive of that diffidence and 



140 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

humility, which altogether constitute true 
dignity of character, and which will com- 
mand that respect and attention which are 
due to an ambassador of Jesus Christ. 



LETTER XII. 

Verbal Criticism. 

In the former Letter were made some 
observations on the expediency and useful- 
ness of acquiring a knowledge of the learned 
languages. On that subject, the writer has 
freely given his own views, without any re- 
ference to the practicability of entering into 
such a close study as shall give to the stu- 
dent an ascendancy in the scale of litera- 
ture. To this pre-eminence few only can 
hope to attain. To be a " master work- 
man" is not essentia] to every labourer. 

To what has been there said, I would 
add a few remarks upon Verbal Criti- 
cism ; by which is understood a critical 
knowledge of words, the radical meaning of 
which determines, very often, the primary 
sense of the passage with which they stand 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 141 

connected ; and especially such words as 
are emphatical in that particular connexion. 
I would premise, however, that although it 
may be important, in rescuing an obscure 
or controverted passage from objectionable 
interpretation, to be competent to ascertain 
the radical meaning of words, by tracing 
them to their respective roots, yet it is 
thought that too much dependance has fre- 
quently been placed upon this sort of criti- 
cism, in settling theological questions. There 
are certain veins of truth running through 
the field of Christian Theology, to which 
the needle of revelation directs the mind of 
the conscientious theologian, and to which, 
by carefully digging, he will infallibly arrive. 
These are discovered, not merely by a soli- 
tary glimmering of light of uncertain origin ; 
but by the collected rays of Truth, which 
beam forth through the medium of revela- 
tion. There are, indeed, in this divine 
Book, a leading design, a prevailing truth, 
a predominant doctrine, and a paramount 
duty, which show themselves throughout the 
whole volume, and which forcibly strike the 
reader's attention in almost every page. This 



142 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

being the case, we do not depend upon a 
word of dubious import, nor upon any in- 
sulated passage, for the establishment of any 
particular doctrine, or for the authority of 
any particular duty ; but this is to be ascer- 
tained from a careful collation of the several 
parts of the inspired writings, and by the 
harmonious testimony of the whole. These 
remarks are intended to guard you against 
attaching too much importance to sentiments 
derived merely from the etymological mean- 
ing of words, and from indulging too freely 
in verbal criticism for the establishment of a 
favourite doctrine. 

But while we should scrupulously guard 
ourselves against the abuse of this sort of 
knowledge, I would recommend its use to 
all those who are capable of turning it to 
the advantage of truth and righteousness. 
Since there are those who press this kind of 
learning into the service of heterodoxy, and 
make it subserve the promulgation of error, 
it is well to be able to wrest the javelin from 
their hands, and then to vanquish them with 
those very weapons with which they thought 
to have assailed and conquered you. While 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 143 

they speak " great swelling words of vani- 
ty," and boast of their dexterity in wielding 
the original words of Scripture to support 
their cause, meet them with meekness and 
wisdom, and evince the superiority of truth, 
by the manner in which you are able to 
" take the spoil from the mighty." 

The Unitarians or Socinians, as well as 
the Universalists, are perpetually resorting 
to their quibbling criticisms upon the import 
of particular phrases, and especially the ori- 
ginal words of Scripture, in order to support 
the peculiarities of their respective systems. 
Why is this ? Is it because they gain any 
thing by such conduct ? No, surely. But 
they hope thereby to dazzle the minds of 
the ignorant by a pompous parade of learn- 
ing, and to impose upon the credulous by 
an ostentatious show of industry in search- 
ing into the writings of the ancients. Now, 
to undeceive the deceived, and to establish 
the wavering in the truth, follow such fan- 
tastic quibblers into their lurking places, strip 
them of their armour, and bind them with 
the cords of truth, that they may no longer 
ensnare the unsuspecting with the splendid 
trappings of a false learning. 



144 LETTERS TO YOUNl* 

How often have we been told that Ajwv, 
(aion,) does not signify eternity, but only a 
definite term of time, and that it ought to 
be rendered ages ? But let any man open 
his Bible with a candid desire to ascertain 
the truth, and collate the several places 
where this and its correlative terms are 
found, and he will soon be convinced of the 
frivolity of all such criticisms. And equally 
weak is the argument founded upon the ideal 
meaning of aty (olem,) which literally sig- 
nifies to hide or to conceal in the dark ; for 
all who will impartially consult the several 
places where it occurs, will perceive that it 
is most appropriately used to represent, as 
far as human language can represent, eter- 
nity, which, indeed, is hidden or concealed 
from mortal sight. If you wish to see how 
completely nugatory the Socinian argument 
is, which professes to derive strength from a 
critical examination of those passages in the 
original Scriptures, which speak of the per- 
sonality of Christ, you may consult Ward- 
low on the Socinian Controversy, and Mid- 
dleton on the force of the Greek Article. 
In the application of this sort of criticism 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 145 

for the illustration of Scripture, or the vin- 
dication of any special doctrine, it should 
be recollected that many terms, particularly 
in the Greek of the New Testament, are 
used in a sense quite different from what 
they were by the heathen Greeks. Is it to 
be supposed, for instance, that the words, 
U&g, Osos, AyioZ, Ovgavog, A5r\g or Fssvvc, con- 
veyed the same ideas to a heathen Greek, as 
they did to a Christian ? Was the Faith 
of a Grecian moralist, in God, in holiness, 
in heaven, in hell, the same as the Faith 
either of a Christian or a Jew ? While the 
former apprehended by his faith a plurality 
of deities, or, as the apostle expresses it, 
" Gods many and Lords many," to the faith 
of the latter there was " but one God. 55 
While his heaven was filled with angry dei- 
ties who once had their abodes on earth, 
the heaven of the holy Christian becomes 
refulgent with the smiles of the God of love, 
and its society enlivened with those who had 
" washed their robes and made them white 
in the blood of the Lamb. 55 The inspired 
apostles took up words as they found them 
in the current language in which they spoke 
13 



146 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

and wrote ; but as they taught a system of 
doctrines and duties which was entirely new 
to the generality of their hearers, they used 
such like terms as we have enumerated, in 
a sense far more noble and sublime, than 
what the heathen philosophers did. And 
though they were sanctioned by the author- 
ity of the Septuagint or Greek translation 
of the Old Testament, in applying most of 
the terms in the manner they did, yet in 
treating on the doctrine of the incarnation 
of Christ, His vicarious sacrifice, of the 
efficacy of his blood, and the glorious fruits 
of His resurrection and ascension, and in- 
tercession, they were under the necessity of 
either inventing new terms, or of employing 
old ones in a new sense. The latter method 
was generally adopted. By this means the 
meaning of emphatical words was transfer- 
red to the explanation and support of a new 
system of Theology, far surpassing in the 
grandeur of its object, in the depth of its 
counsels, the sublimity of its truths, and in 
the obligation of its precepts and duties, any 
system of religion the world ever saw. This 
observation should be kept in mind, espe* 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 147 

cially when explaining and applying those 
words which have been incautiously selected 
from the inspired writings to defend the 
doctrine of necessity, or of fate. 

One more thought upon this subject. As 
words are used by the inspired, as well as 
by all other writers, in a variety of senses, 
we can ascertain the sense in which they 
should be understood only by tracing them 
to their ideal meaning, and then by carefully 
collating the several passages in which they 
occur. Having arrived at their primitive 
meaning by descending to their respective 
roots or verbal signification, we may then 
follow them through their various inflections, 
and note the variety of senses in which they 
are used. This will enable us to determine 
with tolerable accuracy, the idea which 
ought to be attached to such words in any 
particular connexion. And it ought to be 
remembered that, very often, the meaning 
of an emphatical word in a sentence can 
only be determined by the circumstance of 
its being there used, or from the general 
scope and design of the writer in commit- 
ting his thoughts to writing. This last con- 



148 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

sideration will induce a cautious modesty in 
our appeals to the ideal or radical meaning 
of terms in order to determine the truth of 
any leading doctrine of Christianity ; as the 
more we canvass this subject, the more we 
shall be convinced that this may be done 
more effectually from the analogy of faith, 
and from the general declarations of Scrip- 
ture, than merely from philological criticism. 
The observations made upon this subject 
are not limited in their application to the 
knowledge of any one particular language. 
But as the Holy Scriptures were originally 
written in the Hebrew and Greek, such a 
knowledge of these two languages, as will 
enable you to trace important and emphati- 
cal Scripture phrases back to their simple 
terms, and the simple ideas for which they 
stand, is of great use in the study of theolo- 
gy ; and it is also admitted that from what- 
ever source the words in common use may 
be derived, an ability to ascertain their ety- 
mological sense, is an acquisition of useful 
knowledge. Our own language being de- 
rived from a variety of sources, and con- 
tinually accumulating by the introduction 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 149 

and naturalization of foreign words, it re- 
quires a vast compass of grammatical know- 
ledge to understand its etymology. To this 
height of literary eminence few only can 
hope to attain. But all those who profess 
to be sent of God to instruct mankind in 
the most interesting and sublime of all 
sciences, should endeavour to furnish them- 
selves with as much of this sort of informa- 
tion, as will enable them to defend the truth 
against the assaults of cunning and design- 
ing adversaries. If it be made subservient 
to the main end of their mission, the salva- 
tion of souls, it will be sanctified unto them, 
and be made a useful auxiliary in defending 
the truth. 

To comprehend adequately the force and 
radical meaning of words, Concordances 
and Dictionaries should be consulted in all 
doubtful cases. Those who have not arrived 
at such a critical knowledge of the learned 
languages, as to be competent to trace words 
in common use up to their original source, 
provided they can read them, may be greatly 
assisted by a reference to those Lexicons 
which give their explanations in the English 
IS* 



150 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

tongue. In this respect, since Englishmen 
have duly appreciated their own language, 
we are greatly indebted to the learned and 
scientific labours of some modern writers, 
such as Parkhurst, M 'Knight, Ewin, Moore, 
Frey, and Middleton ; the first of whom, in 
his Hebrew and Greek Lexicons, throws a 
flood of light on many obscure passages of 
sacred Scripture, by his verbal criticisms 
and theological researches ; for his valuable 
Lexicons, in many respects, assume more 
the character of commentaries than of mere 
definers of words ; and M< Knight, in his 
Essays on the force and peculiarity of cer- 
tain Scriptural phrases, has rendered an 
essential service to biblical criticism ; while 
Middleton, by his critical remarks on the 
use and meaning of the Greek Article, has 
contributed much towards settling the long 
agitated question concerning the divinity of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. The others are 
chiefly valuable (and they are not to be 
considered the less valuable on that ac- 
count) for their philological criticisms, or as 
explainers of the radical meaning of the 
Hebrew and Greek words. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 151 

If, however, you would excel in this 
branch of knowledge, your attention must 
not be confined to Lexicons of the learned 
languages. English Dictionaries must be as- 
siduously consulted ; and though a complete 
etymological Dictionary, such as should pre- 
sent a synopsis of the various sources from 
whence our language is derived, particularly 
the Anglo-Saxon, French, and Latin, is still 
a desideratum in the philological world, we 
may generally obtain satisfactory#ielp on this 
point from Johnson's large Dictionary ; and 
perhaps equally as much, at less expense, 
from Bailees valuable Dictionary. Brown's 
Pronouncing Dictionary will combine direc- 
tions for pronunciation according to Walk- 
er's key, with a classical definition, as es- 
tablished by Johnson. And his Classical 
Dictionary will explain those terms found in 
ancient geography, history, and heathen my- 
thology, with which many authors abound. 
In all practicable cases, follow every word 
up to its root, and attentively mark its 
ideal and verbal signification. This is of 
much greater use than we may at first 
imagine, as it will qualify us to examine 



152 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

with greater accuracy the precise idea which 
ought to he attached to every word, and es- 
pecially to important and emphatical ones. 
To guard against an improper use of words, 
the exact sense in which they are used by 
the best writers and speakers should be 
ascertained ; for we are exceedingly apt to 
slide imperceptibly into the use of words, 
from hearing them frequently spoken by 
loose and thoughtless speakers, without con- 
sidering thflr import, or the suitableness of 
their application in that particular con- 
nexion. 

But in the study of theology, a Concord- 
ance to the Holy Scriptures, Cruder? s, But- 
terworth's, or Taylor's, should be consulted, 
in connexion with an approved Critical Com- 
mentary ; not merely with a view to ascer- 
tain the meaning of words, or to settle theo- 
logical questions ; but also to learn the great 
variety of senses in which the same word is 
used, as well as to perceive the accuracy 
with which the several writers of the sacred 
volume support the same great and cardinal 
truths of divine revelation. Hence the vast 
utility of noticing parallel passages, that you 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 153 

may perceive how they mutually explain and 
support each other 

While it is acknowledged to be vastly im- 
portant perfectly to comprehend the mean- 
ing of words, it is not to be supposed that 
pronunciation is to be neglected as a thing 
entirely useless. Though an observation 
like this may seem to belong more properly 
to a treatise on eloquence, yet it may not 
be amiss to observe here, that the rapid 
manner of speaking which seems to have 
grown into so general a use, is rather to be 
deprecated than imitated. The running 
two or more words into one in sound, al- 
most entirely dropping conjunctions, pre- 
positions, and articles, neglecting to sound 
the vowels, either for the sake of brevity, 
or from not attending to their use ; the clip- 
ping words at their termination, which the 
established rules of pronunciation require to 
be sounded, or dropping a syllable in the 
middle of a word, which is often done ; are 
defects which ought to be carefully avoided 
by every public speaker. Equally defective, 
and much more irksome, is that drawling 
manner of speaking, by which almost every 



154 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

syllable is accented, and every word in a 
sentence is equally emphatical , in which 
disgusting practice there is neither accent, 
cadence, nor emphasis, but a dull monotony 
of sounds, offensive and tiresome to the 
hearers. If any practice is more reprehen- 
sible still, it is that which some contract in 
laying an emphasis in a sort of regular rou- 
tine, without any attention to the nature of 
the subject, or the import of the words they 
utter. These two extremes may be easily 
avoided with a little care and attention to 
pronunciation, and to the rules of good 
speaking. 



LETTER XIII. 



Une Church — its government — doctrines — du- 
ties and powers of the Ministry — rights of 
its Members — its ordinances, Sec, 

Among all the other studies to which 
your attention may be directed, the Articles 
of Faith, the government, ordinances, rites, 
and ceremonies of the Church, will claim 
your most assiduous attention. And that 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 155 

you may be thoroughly furnished on these 
momentous subjects, you should examine 
and compare those of the different religious 
communities, marking their agreement or 
disagreement, and noting what is peculiar 
to each. 

In reading ecclesiastical history, you 
doubtless have been attentive to those mat- 
ters, and have been cohducted to the con- 
clusion, that while all agree that the Church 
consists of two main branches, the ministry 
and the membership, there is a diversity of 
opinions as to what constitutes the member- 
ship of the Church, and as to what belongs 
to a true gospel ministry. 

As to membership, where religion has ob- 
tained a legal and national establishment, it 
is supposed that all are born members of 
the visible Church, which they are bound 
by law to support. Others think, with much 
better reason, that baptism is the initiating rite 
into the Church, while others contend that 
no one has a right to its privileges but such 
as have an experience, and make a public 
profession, of divine grace. Now, among 
these conflicting opinions-, a careful exami- 



156 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

nation of their respective claims to Scrip- 
ture authority and precedent, is essential to 
enable you to be always ready to give, at 
least to yourself, a satisfactory reason for 
your adherence to one opinion and practice 
rather than to another. To do this under- 
standing^, you must study the economy of 
the Church, as it has existed under the dif- 
ferent dispensations, the Patriarchal, the 
Mosaic, and the Christian, as well as the 
various sentiments and discordant opinions, 
with the arguments for and against each, 
prevalent among the several sects of Chris- 
tians, Catholics and Protestants. And al- 
though the theory you may embrace may 
not be so perfectly clear in all points as to 
amount to perfect and undoubting convic- 
tion, yet you may, after balancing the re- 
spective claims of each, find sufficient rea- 
son for giving to one the preference to all 
others. 

As to the ministry, while all agree that an 
order of men to be devoted to the service of 
the sanctuary, is essential to the existence 
of a Christian Church, there is a diversity 
of opinion respecting the call, qualification^ 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 157 

orders, powers, duties, and manner of sup- 
port of the Christian ministry. Some con- 
tend that a designation to the ministry is 
indicated only by an outward call ; others, 
with much more Scripture authority on their 
side, think that an inward call to this work 
by the Holy Spirit, must precede and ac- 
company the sanction and appointment of 
men : some think a classical education, and 
regular course of theological studies, may 
not be dispensed with ; while some consider 
scientifical attainments as of no use ; but 
others, justly taking a middle ground, are 
willing to pay due respect to learning and 
science, while they insist on spiritual quali- 
fications as constituting the more essential 
prerequisites of a gospel ministry, and who 
wish to combine the excellences of both, 
whenever it is practicable. Some believe 
that there is but one order in the ministry ; 
some two, and others three, and that these 
three maj be subdivided into a number of 
offices, all under the control of one gene- 
ral head. On this subject a minister of 
Christ should be able to balance the argu- 
ments for and against each, and to assign 
14 



158 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

the reasons why he adheres to one in pre- 
ference to any other. And this he may da 
without excluding from the communion of 
saints those from whom he dissents, because 
he has learnt to distinguish between that 
which is essential to a gospel ministry, and 
that which may be merely prudential, know- 
ing also that God has left many of these 
matters to the wisdom and discretion of the 
Church. 

There is yet another point in relation to 
the powers of the ministry, which ought not 
to be wholly overlooked ; and that is, whe- 
ther the Lord Jesus hath delegated to his 
ministers the sole right of governing the 
Church, or whether the people generally, 
or by a fair representation from their own 
body, should be associated with the minis- 
try, in enacting laws and regulations for its 
government. Do not be afraid of meeting 
any of these questions, and wherever the 
truth plainly points out the way, there fear- 
lessly walk. 

Another particular relating to the ministry 
is — and this involves another point of Church 
government — whether the ministry should 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 159 

be wholly local, or wholly travelling, or 
whether it may partake of both ; whether it 
should be exclusively devoted to the " word 
and doctrine," and derive its entire support 
from the people ; or whether it may, at the 
same time, follow a secular calling for a 
livelihood ; and also whether ministers are 
to be settled over individual congregations 
by the choice of the people, or whether they 
should be entirely subject to the appointment 
of a superior minister. Where you cannot 
be guided in these inquiries by an express 
warrant from Scripture, nor any known 
usage of the primitive Church, you must 
determine the point — unless the practice be 
expressly condemned by the laws of Christ, 
in which case a defence of it would be both 
absurd and impious — from its supposed fit- 
ness or unfitness to times and circumstan- 
ces, its expediency or probable utility ; al- 
ways remembering that every minutia re- 
lating to the usages or government of the 
Church, is not to be found in the Holy 
Scriptures. 

In respect to the different forms of Church 
government, though each Church may have 



160 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

something peculiar in its organization, by 
which it is distinguished from others of the 
same denomination, yet there are but three 
substantially, viz. the Congregational, 
the Presbyterian, and the Episcopalian. 
These differ very considerably from each 
other ; and therefore you ought to make 
yourself acquainted with them all, marking 
their points of contrast and analogy, and the 
rules by which they are governed, as well 
as the principal arguments by which they 
are supported and defended. Buck's Theo- 
logical Dictionary will help you to some 
useful hints on this subject. 

It is not only to the government of the 
several denominations you are to look, but 
also to their doctrines On a careful exa- 
mination of this subject,- you will find that 
among Heathens, Jews, Christians, and Mo- 
hammedans, there are some cardinal truths 
in which they all agree, while in other re- 
spects they widely differ from each other. 
The Christians have arrayed themselves in 
two grand divisions, the Calvinists and Ar- 
minians, who, while they unite to support 
the great and leading principles of Chris- 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 161 

tianity, differ widely in respect to other 
points. The next division is the Trinita- 
rians and Socinians, and the next the XJni- 
versalists, and those who believe in the eter- 
nity of helVs torments ; and each of these 
may be subdivided by some slight shades of 
difference among themselves. For a know- 
ledge of all these matters you must consult 
their several Articles of Faith, and the ar- 
guments for and against them. 

On this subject you must scrupulously 
guard against one evil, and that is, the 
forming a judgment of any sect from the 
statements of its adversaries. Every man 
is entitled to a fair hearing in his own de- 
fence, and ought to have the liberty of con- 
fronting and sifting, in the presence of his 
j udge, the testimony which may be advanced 
against him. And it is a lamentable fact, that 
there are but few controversial writers but 
what have, in their representations of their 
antagonists, disfigured them with more or less 
of false colouring. Who, for instance, that 
would judge of the Roman Catholics from 
such representations as are contained in the 
cc Master Key to Popery," but what must 
14* 



162 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

believe them nearly all the most abandoned 
set of hypocrites that ever lived to disgrace 
human nature ? And were we to form our 
opinion of Luther, Calvin, and others of the 
Protestant Reformers, from the distorted 
statements of their Catholic adversaries, we 
should think them among the worst of men. 
Let John Wesley appear in the habiliments 
put upon him by Nightingale, Hampson, or 
Southey, and you would flee from him as a 
monster in human shape, made up of a mix- 
ture of good and bad qualities, alternately 
triumphing over a mind vastly expanded by 
science, and superstitiously bent on promo- 
ting religious truth ! Let these facts induce 
you to hear all you can for and against any 
sect, and then make up your mind according 
to truth and righteousness. 

Another branch belonging to this depart- 
ment of study is, respecting the ordinances 
and ceremonies of the Church, what and 
how many they are ; their use, and the 
manner in which they should be adminis- 
tered. Although among Protestants you 
will find a general agreement as to the num- 
ber and validity of Christian ordinances, yet 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 163 

you will find some diversity of opinion as it 
regards the manner in which they should 
be administered. In deciding on these 
points, about which there has been no little 
controversy, you will do well to recol- 
lect that the validity of Christian ordinances 
cannot depend on the mode of their being 
administered, so much as it does on the au- 
thority and qualifications of the administra- 
tor, and the fitness of the subjects of them. 
There is also some diversity of opinion con- 
cerning the efficacy of the ordinances, as 
well as who are the suitable subjects of them. 
Some contend that neither baptism nor the 
Lord's supper is to be administered to any 
but adult believers ; while others think that 
all who profess the Christian name are en- 
titled to the one, and that all children of 
believing parents are suitable subjects of the 
other. On these and similar points, after 
consulting the Holy Scriptures, with the 
best lights you can obtain, you must make 
up jour judgment with as much candour 
and impartiality as you can, so as to be able 
to justify your own practice as an adminis- 
trator of the ordinances of Christ. Look at 



164 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

Dr. Adam Clarke on the Eucharist, and 
Mr. Wesley's Sermon on the duty of constant 
communion. Edwards on Baptism is good so 
far as argument is concerned ; but I fear he 
indulged in too much contempt for his an- 
tagonists. 

In addition to the Holy Scriptures and 
the writers just mentioned, for information 
on these subjects, you must consult the Ar- 
ticles of Faith acknowledged and adopted 
by the several sects, as well as their formu- 
laries of religion, marking those peculiarities 
by which each is distinguished. Hurd?$ 
History of all Religions, (though I fear not 
in all respects an impartial one,) one large 
folio volume, will furnish a comprehensive 
view of all that belongs to the several reli- 
gious communities, whether Heathen. Jew, 
Christian, or Mohammedan. But if this be 
not within your reach, a more compendious 
view may be had from a smaller work lately 
published by the Rev. Mr. Benedict, who 
seems to have given an impartial, though 
short, account of all the religious sects 
throughout the world. 

The duty is so obvious, that it seems 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 165 

hardly necessary to mention it, that you 
must attentively study every part of the eco- 
nomy of your own Church, marking its ori- 
gin, rise, and progress, the duties peculiar 
to the several orders of its ministers, the 
duties and privileges of its members, with 
that form of Discipline which regulates the 
whole, and binds it together in one compact 
body, " by that which every joint supplieth." 
See the writers mentioned under this head 
in Letter III, page 26. And I add here, 
by the advice of the Book Committee, my 
own work on Methodist Episcopacy. 



LETTER XIV. 

Some General Remarks in regard to the manner 
in which Books should be consulted. 

That it is possible to read many books, 
without being much the wiser or better, 
will not be disputed by those who have at- 
tentively considered this subject. Some men 
have been known who could boast of the 
number of books they had read, but who 



166 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

could give little or no account of their con- 
tents, who had collected no important truths 
from them, and whose minds were so empty 
of sound knowledge, that, instead of ex- 
pressing themselves intelligibly on subjects 
which required thought and investigation, 
they delighted more in regaling themselves 
with vain and frothy conversation, light and 
idle vanities, than dwelling on those great 
doctrines of truth with which the Scriptures 
abound. This reprehensible defect is not 
so much owing to an incapacity to under- 
stand and profit from what might be read, 
as it is to an aversion to close and accurate 
research, and to a careless and loose man- 
ner of reading. The soil may be good, but 
it needs culture to make it productive. To 
remedy this defect — 

1. Make a judicious selection of the au- 
thors you design to read. As observed in a 
former Letter, it is a waste of time to read 
any and every thing which comes to hand. 
Dismiss from your catalogue all writers of 
doubtful authority, all low, mean, and gro- 
velling publications, such as are only calcu- 
lated to fill the mind with light and airy 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 16T 

notions, and let your mind rather dwell on 
those subjects which are calculated to en- 
lighten and strengthen the understanding, 
and to improve the heart. 

These remarks are not intended to re- 
strict you from a copious collection of books 
of general reading, whether on theology, 
history, philology, or philosophy, nor even to 
prevent a perusal of those works which are 
opposed to your own particular views ; but 
it is designed to prevent a rambling excur- 
sion from one to the other, without any de- 
terminate end in view, but merely to fill up 
a vacant hour. There is a difference be- 
tween studying an author for the sake of 
obtaining a more thorough knowledge of 
any particular subject connected with theo- 
logy, and reading the news of the day, &c. 
When the mind is matured with sound wis- 
dom, we may then take a wider range into 
the field of literature, and more indiscrimi- 
nately look into the various publications with 
which the world abounds. Neither do I 
think that a minister ought to be ignorant of 
the events of daily occurrence, and espe- 
cially those of great national importance , 



168 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

This indeed is often necessary to enable him 
to have a comprehensive view of the dispen- 
sations of God's providence, so as to mark 
the operations of His hand, and to infer 
from a collected view of the whole, his im- 
mediate duty. Hence a public Journal, in 
which these things are recorded with impar- 
tiality, is a desirable auxiliary in bringing 
useful information. More particularly should 
he be acquainted with all the great opera- 
tions of the Christian world, whether he ap- 
prove of them all or not, now directed to the 
melioration and salvation of mankind. No- 
thing is more disgusting than a vacant stare 
of ignorance in the countenance of a minis- 
ter of Christ, in relation to these subjects, 
whenever they are the topic of conversation. 
2. Having therefore fixed on those books 
which are best calculated to impart in- 
struction, examine them thoroughly. It is 
said ot Mr. Baxter, that his books were full 
of marginal notes of translations from the 
dead languages ; and doubtful or erroneous 
sentiments, as well as those containing in- 
teresting and important matter, were marked 
accordingly. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 169 

3. Have a blank or memorandum book 
at hand, in which you may record thoughts 
that may be suggested either from reading 
or conversation, or from your own private 
meditations ; and likewise in which you may 
epitomise those subjects which are the most 
useful and important, clothing the sentiments 
of others in your own language, and then 
making such deductions from the whole as 
may occur to your mind. This method, 
though slow, will abundantly compensate 
you for all your time and labour, and will 
tend to banish from your mind those stale 
and uninteresting thoughts which become 
stagnant for want of action. 

4. In reading history, collate the several 
authors you may consult, and endeavour to 
memorize all the great and important events 
they record, marking their chronology, and 
their parallelism with each other, and parti- 
cularly those recorded in sacred Scripture ; 
for I would not have you forget, that in all 
your studies you are a minister of Christ, 
and therefore whatever knowledge you may 
attain, it is to be made subservient to the 
illustration and enforcement of divine truth. 

15 



170 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

In your memorandum book notice all the 
great personages of whom you read, the 
time of their birth, what brought them into 
public notice, their predominant passion, 
their faults and excellences, the influence 
they exerted in society, whether political, 
civil, or religious. To ascertain whether 
you have profited by this kind of reading or 
not, see if you can discourse on these sub- 
jects to advantage. If you have no as- 
sociate with whom you can interchange 
thoughts, be your own prompter, converse 
with yourself, ask questions, and answer 
them, raise and obviate objections and diffi- 
culties, until the subject is familiarized to 
your mind. But if possible have a compa- 
nion or two of like mind with yourself, and 
do not let an opportunity slip of eliciting 
something useful from him ; propose your 
doubts, ask your questions ; but never wil- 
fully take up the wrong side of a question 
with a view to defend it. 

5. In the study of books on divinity or 
philosophy, critically examine the sentiments 
of your author, and if he be considered a 
standard writer, treasure up — and this you 



.MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 171 

will do to the best advantage by making a 
synopsis in writing of his leading senti- 
ments — in your memory and understanding, 
the doctrines advanced, so that you can re- 
fer to them, as occasion may require, with 
facility. But never undertake to advance a 
sentiment you do not thoroughly understand. 

6. To insure success, " restrain," as 
Monsieur Saurin has expressed it, " your 
avidity of knowing." That kind of know- 
ledge which is most lasting and beneficial, 
is obtained by slow degrees, as the fruit of 
a laborious and painful research. Many 
persons, viewing the difficulties of attaining 
a competent knowledge of the various sub- 
jects presented to their consideration, give 
up the pursuit in despair, and neglect the 
whole. 

To prevent this evil, be not over anxious 
to accomplish the end of your labour, as 
though it must be done at once or not at 
all. By a patient perseverance, mastering 
first one thing, and then another, you will 
overcome every impediment, and arrive at a 
knowledge of every truth necessary for you 
to know. And that your mind may never 



172 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

be idle, or triflingly employed, always have 
one principal subject in hand, to which you 
may recur, and on which you may profit- 
ably exercise your powers, when not other- 
wise employed in the specific and appro- 
priate duties of your station. This will 
prevent that sort of mental vacuity, which 
engenders a restlessness of spirit, and which 
originates either from want of application to 
subjects that are profitable, or from perpe- 
tually poring either over our own, or the 
weaknesses and miseries of others. 

7. In the mean time endeavour to ascer- 
tain the practical use of all you may wish to 
learn, that you may, as circumstances shall 
require, know how to apply your know- 
ledge to useful arid practical purposes. 
This, indeed, is the grand end to be had in 
view, in all our literary, as well as religious 
and moral pursuits. To be a mere recluse, 
is to be almost useless in the world. And 
that sort of knowledge which brings on a 
sluggishness of soul, dampens our zeal, and 
makes us indifferent about the salvation of 
the souls of others, is equally as deleterious 
as that mental indolence which makes us 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 173 

content with ignorance, and begets a petu- 
lant disposition towards all those whose ex- 
cellence eclipses our own. 

8. You will do well to remember that all 
sound wisdom cometh down from the " Fa- 
ther of lights, with whom there is no va- 
riableness, neither shadow of turning. 3 ' Be- 
ware, therefore, of contracting a disrelish 
for His word, which is a lamp to our feet ; 
and much more of supposing yourself so 
wise and self-sufficient, as not to need daily 
prayer to God. If you should, while pro- 
fessedly in the pursuit of wisdom, become so 
foolish as to think yourself so " rich and 
increased in goods," as not to feel your con- 
tinual dependance on God, and therefore to 
break off communion with Him, you would 
be an infinite loser for all your labour. 
Often to lift up the heart in a short ejacu- 
lation to God for help, for wisdom to under- 
stand, for grace to sanctify, and for spiritual 
aid in our pursuits, even in the midst of our 
daily occupations, will be a lasting, as well 
as a consoling benefit to our own souls. 
This, together with our stated hours for 
prayer, will be a means of keeping up a 
15* 



174 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

constant communion with God, and a never- 
failing spring of action to our souls, which, 
otherwise, may languish and die. 

For more particular directions on this 
subject, Watts on the Improvement of the 
JMind, is recommended. But, for particular 
directions as a Methodist preacher, in rela- 
tion to the minutia of many parts of your 
conduct, read Dr. Mam Clarke's Letter to 
a Junior Preacher. Though you may find 
some things in it, on account of their being 
adapted only to the state of society in Great 
Britain, hardly practicable in this country, 
there is so much judicious counsel, that 
every Methodist preacher ought to possess 
and read it. A man's usefulness in the pul- 
pit depends more on the manner in which 
he conducts himself in private, and in social 
circles, even in matters of seemingly small 
importance, than we at first are apt to ima- 
gine. And the saying of St. Paul should be 
our constant motto, " All things are lawful 
for me, but all things are not expedient." 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPER. 175 

LETTER XV. 

Concluding Observations. 

Taking for granted that you are comply- 
ing, as far as your circumstances will admit, 
with the advice with which we commenced, 
namely, writing upon some theme every day, 
I will take the liberty, by way of conclusion, 
to suggest a few things, which may assist 
you in the farther prosecution of your stu- 
dies. In the first place, then, do not depend 
too much upon books. Collect, indeed, all 
the information you can from books and 
from conversation with the wise and good ; 
but after all, you must digest for yourself; 
you must let the sentiments of others un- 
dergo a thorough refinement in your own 
mind, by examining for yourself the reason 
of them, their truth and propriety, their fit- 
ness and adaptation to present times and 
circumstances ; that you may bring from 
your own " treasury things new and old. 55 
You must be an original thinker When 
you sit down to consider a subject, think for 



176 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

yourself, arrange for yourself, clothe your 
ideas in your own language, and bring every 
thing warm from the heart. In the midst 
of your researches, lift up your soul to God 
for light, for love, for spiritual help ; and 
then throw yourself into the arms of your 
heavenly Father, and plunge into the centre 
of your subject, fearless of consequences ; 
and He whose servant you are, will bring 
you safe through, provided truth be the 
object of your pursuit. 

It was observed that you must not depend 
too much upon books. There is, however, 
one book, always open to your inspection, 
and which, therefore, you must constantly 
read : it is the book of experience : what- 
ever passes here, you must observe, and 
carefully note. Mark passing events, — notice 
particular providences as they regard your- 
self — the Church — the world — and indivi- 
dual persons, — make them lessons of daily 
instruction, and subjects of prayer and 
thanksgiving. 

Acquaint yourself thoroughly with the hu- 
man heart. History, and especially Scripture 
history, will unfold it to your view. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 177 

In your studies be methodical. And as 
we are most familiar with ourselves, begin 
with yourself. Take your pen, and en- 
deavour to portray yourself — trace your ori- 
gin — your end — separate, as far as you can, 
your soul from your body — consider them 
apart — combine them — contemplate your 
complex character — analyze your corporeal 
and intellectual natures — your physical and 
moral powers — consider your natural, moral, 
and relative condition — your social and in- 
dividual capacity — your present duties and 
future prospects — connect he present and 
future world together — let your thoughts 
stretch themselves far " beyond the bounds 
of time and space" — and recollect that that 
is to be your future residence — that your 
business in this world is to fit yourself, and 
persuade others to fit themselves, for that 
eternal state. Oh ! what a theme opens ! 
What a world is this ! But how much more 
mysterious and incomprehensible that which 
is to come ! For your own improvement 
pursue each of the above heads until it is 
exhausted ; but never attempt to exhaust a 
subject in your public administration. Con- 



178 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

centrate your thoughts, and let the collected 
beams of truth light on the particular subject 
you would elucidate — otherwise, instead of 
edifying an audience, you will exhaust their 
patience, and defeat the object of your mi- 
nistry — if you tire yourself you will fatigue 
your hearers, and both yourself and they 
will be dissatisfied with your performance. 
Having studied yourself, ascend, 

Secondly, To Him who made you. Con- 
template His perfections — meditate on the 
absolute independency of His existence — 
His Eternity — Power — Wisdom — Justice — 
Goodness — Holiness — Truth — Faithfulness 
— LongsufFering ; — Mark the administration 
of His government, and the dispensations 
of His providence — Make each of the attri- 
butes of His ineffable character, a Theme, 
or a separate subject of meditation — follow 
it in all its bearings — then concentrate them 
— fall down before this bright assemblage of 
infinite perfections — humbly adore Him in 
whom they inhere, while you confess your 
own ignorance, and entire dependance on 
Him for all things. 

Next, take into consideration Redemp- 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 179 

tion — the benevolence of its character — 
the comprehensiveness of its provisions — its 
suitableness to the character of God and 
condition of man — its suitableness to man as 
a sinful being. — This will open to your soul 
a view of the tremendous scenes of Calvary 
— lead you to trace the life and death of 
Christ — to estimate the value of His atoning 
blood — and to meditate on His exquisite 
sufferings— His resurrection — ascension — 
the evidences of it on the day of Pentecost. 
— Here the dispensation of the Spirit will 
open to your view — you will understand the 
glory which was to follow the sufferings of 
Christ. From hence you will descend again 
to man, and be led to notice the opera- 
tion of the Spirit upon his heart — working 
conviction — repentance — Faith in Christ — 
Justification — Sanctification — Inward and 
outward obedience to the law— obligation 
of the ordinances — Death — Resurrection — 
Judgment — Immortality. — What a field for 
the display of all your mentahenergies ! Do 
not attempt to leap over it at once ; but take 
a solemn walk from length to breadth, and 
carefully examine every tree, every flower* 



180 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

every fountain, and every rivulet. In other 
words, do not mingle up in one sermon, 
every head of doctrine ; but make each 
point a separate discourse, especially where 
you are called to minister to the same con- 
gregation for a length of time. This method 
will greatly enlarge your mind, and force 
you to amplify your subjects, and to enter at 
large into a proof and illustration of them. 
In all your studies, and especially in all 
your public administrations, you will mingle 
reflections upon the social and relative du- 
ties of life, as being the surest evidence of a 
work of grace upon the heart. A work of 
grace upon the 7 heart ! Well understand 
this subject. You must learn it from eocpe~ 
Hence. You cannot learn it from merely 
mental application. If you are, indeed, a 
true minister of the sanctuary, you are no 
stranger to this work of grace ; this inward 
smart of repentance, this joy in the Holy 
Ghost, this wrestling and struggling against 
temptation, this holy violence in taking the 
kingdom of God. Whatever literary accom- 
plishments you may possess, they will not 
supersede the necessity, nor must they take 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 181 

the place, of this gracious work of the Holy 
Spirit upon the heart. When you have 
learned this from experience, you will know 
how to sympathize with the distressed, to 
" rejoice with those who do rejoice, and to 
weep with those that weep." 

Before we conclude our observations, al- 
ready protracted much beyond our original 
intention, permit us to recal your attention 
to the primary object which was suggested 
at the commencement, namely, To save your- 
self and those who hear you. To effect this 
great object, the plan of redemption and 
salvation must not only be clearly explained, 
but it must be enforced upon the conscience, 
as a subject which must be tested by every 
man's experience, and exemplified in prac- 
tical life. And this was the last qualification 
of a minister of Christ, mentioned at the 
commencement of these Letters. To do 
this effectually, we must bring into requisi- 
tion all our powers, and all the aid we can 
obtain. But after all our efforts, we do well 
to recollect that this is far beyond human 
ability to accomplish. God alone can give 
the increase. Not by might nor by power 3 
16 



182 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. And we 
have no reason to believe that God will ac- 
company any man's administrations, with the 
increased energies of His Spirit, unless that 
man live in the Spirit, unless he walk, not 
according to the flesh, but according to the 
Spirit. He who lives by faith in the Son 
of God, devoting himself entirely to His ser- 
vice, praying in the Spirit, and being other- 
wise called and qualified of God to be His 
minister, may expect the accompaniment of 
God's blessing, and may reasonably hope for 
success in his holy calling. 

It is when the sacred truths of God's 
word are sealed upon the conscience by the 
Holy Ghost, that they exert an experimental 
and practical influence upon the heart and 
life. We may, indeed, so far as our per- 
ceptions of divine truth are orthodox, talk 
well upon religious subjects without an ex- 
perience of these things ; but our talk will 
be only as sounding brass ro a tinkling 
cymbal. It is when the heart swells with 
love and gratitude to God, that we are 
drawn forth in tender sympathy and com- 
passion to the souls of men. This, while it 



MINISTERS 0FJTHE GOSPEL. 183 

gives courage to persevere in our work, in- 
spires the tongue with arguments to persuade 
men to be reconciled to God. 

As this is the ultimate end of all our la- 
bour, so every study should be made to con- 
tribute to its attainment. When souls need 
our personal attendance, or the Church calls 
for active service ; if the sick- call for our 
counsel and prayers, the penitent sinner for 
instruction ; then retirement and study, how- 
ever agreeable and otherwise necessary, are 
to be sacrificed, and the wisdom and the 
knowledge we may have obtained must be 
exemplified in practice. To make private 
studies an excuse for neglecting these claims 
upon our active attention, is to confess an 
entire ignorance, after all our studies, of the 
main end of our calling, and our determina- 
tion to defeat the great purposes of the 
Christian ministry. What are the purposes 
of the Christian ministry ? Are they merely 
to occupy the mind with speculative truths ? 
Alas ! This were but a meagre object ! Did 
the Lord Jesus Christ descend from heaven 
— did he preach, suffer, die — merely for the 
purpose of instructing mankind in some ab- 



184 LETTERS TO TOUN& 

stract truths ? No ! he came to rescue man 
from the thraldom of sin — to restore him to 
the image of God, by reforming his heart, 
and by rectifying his conduct. And if this 
was the end of the Jluthor of the ministry, 
surely it ought to be the object of its mem- 
bers — if the .Master proposed this as the 
grand object of His mission into our world, 
it ought certainly to be the object of all 
His servants. 

This being the fact, the whole weight of 
our ministry should be brought to bear upon 
this point, as the main end for which it was 
instituted. Indeed this is the most difficult 
pari of our work. To induce people to at- 
tend on our ministry, — to enlighten their un- 
derstandings with the leading truths of divine 
revelation, or to bring them under the pro- 
fession of Christianity, is easy in comparison 
to persuading them to renounce their sins, 
to reform their lives, to surrender their hearts 
to God, and to live soberly and righteously 
in this present world. This effect produced 
presents one of the most infallible tests of 
the orthodoxy of our ministry. By their 
fruits ye shall know them. And this maxim 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 185 

applies to the truth of the doctrines deliver- 
ed, as well as to the sincerity of the profes- 
sion which is made : both are to be tested 
by their practical tendency. Knowledge, 
eloquence, talents, zeal, are all lost unless 
they be productive of reformation in the 
hearts and lives of sinners. We do not say 
that such a result must be universal. This 
is not to be expected, when even our Lord 
himself could do no mighty works among a 
certain people because of the hardness of 
their hearts. What we contend for is, that 
those who profess to believe our doctrine, 
and to be profited by our ministry, must 
furnish evidence of the sincerity of their 
faith, and the reality of their profit, by the 
righteousness of their lives ; and that there- 
fore this must be the prevailing object of all 
our studies, all our labours, our preaching 
and exhortation. This object accomplished, 
we can say to them, " Ye are our epistle" 
(of recommendation) " written in our hearts, 
known and read of all men ; forasmuch as 
ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle 
of Christ, ministered by us, written not with 
ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, 
16* 



186 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables 
of the heart." 

Finally, — " The king's business requires 
haste." What you are to do must be 
done quickly. Whatever opposition you 
may meet with, persevere ; whatever dis- 
couragements, still persevere ; urge your 
way ; make every thing bend to the main 
object of your mission ; you are a man of 
one work — of one employment ; you have 
no time to throw away ; you cannot afford 
time for trifling visits, for vain talk, for idle 
recreation ; the Judge standeth at the door ; 
His reward is with Him ; and He saith, 
Who then is that faithful and wise steward, 
whom his Lord shall make ruler over his 
household, to give them their portion of meat 
in due season ? 



MINISTERS OP THE GOSPEL. 187 

[The following Letter was written in answer to a 
request from a young preacher, who asked the author's 
advice in regard to some points relating to his duty as a 
public teacher ; but though designed for him in particu- 
lar, it was thought it might be useful to others in a simi- 
lar situation ; and therefore was published in the Maga- 
zine ; and for the same reason it is now added to the 
foregoing Letters.] 

LETTER TO A JUNIOR PREACHER. 

My Dear Brother, — You have been 
pleased to ask my advice. So many things 
have been written, and so much to the pur- 
pose too, on the subject of preaching, and 
the duties connected with the gospel minis- 
try, that to add more seems almost need- 
less. Besides other works to which you 
may have recourse for general information 
on these subjects, I refer you, as a Method- 
ist Preacher, to the Preacher's Manual, a 
little book published at the Methodist Book 
Room, which contains Dr. A. Clarke's 
Letter to a Preacher, his Clavis Biblica, and 
Dr. Coke's Four Discourses on the Gospel 
Ministry. 

However, as I can hardly deny any thing 
to one whom I both love and respect, and 
16** 



188 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

in whose welfare and usefulness I cannot 
but feel a deep and lively interest, I will 
suggest a few thoughts which may not be 
unimportant to one just entering upon his 
ministerial work. As you have already taken 
a very considerable range in the sciences, 
and have enriched your mind with a know- 
ledge of some of the learned languages while 
at school, I need say nothing in reference to 
those subjects, only continue your studies 
with the same assiduity, having continually 
a higher end in view than when you knew 
not the Lord. The field of science, you 
know, is vastly amplified, and will admit of 
perpetual enlargement and profitable culture. 

1. I advise you to be much in private 
prayer and meditation. In order to this, 
avoid all company except such as your duty 
as a Christian Minister calls you to mingle 
with. Only visit as a Minister of Christ; 
letting every inviter know that he must re- 
ceive you in that character, or not at all. 
The sick, and the poor, you must visit, or 
offend Christ. 

2. Keep your own secrets, and let others 
keep theirs. The observance of this rule 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 189 

will save you much time, much trouble, and 
many heart burnings. 

3. Rise early in the morning, not allow- 
ing the birds to be beforehand with you in 
praise to God. 

4. Be always neat, not fine, in your 
clothing and person. A sloven disgraces 
the pulpit. 

5. The moment you find any one to sus- 
pect your sincerity in conversation, stop 
talking. 

6. Never ask the counsel of any man 
who envies you, or who entertains suspi- 
cions of the purity of your motives. 

7. Never contradict a low slander. Let 
the slanderer have all the credit of his lying 
report. 

8. When you find a person always con- 
tradicting you, resorting to dogmatisms in- 
stead of using arguments, leave him to him- 
self. He acts not from judgment, but from 
a testy disposition, which Omnipotence alone 
can change. 

9. When you find a person always find- 
ing fault, passing over a thousand excellen- 
cies with " frigid indifference," and seizing 



19G LETTERS TO YOUNG 

upon an infirmity or an accidental blunder, 
with the avidity with which a vulture would 
seize his prey, let him pass with you only 
as a wayfaring man. Never make him a 
companion. These two last advices apply 
only to those who consider themselves your 
equals. When called to instruct the igno- 
rant, to reclaim the vicious or the wander- 
ing, you must persevere, whatever insults 
you meet with, until hope gives up to despair. 

10. I have often thought of a saying of 
Cotten Mather, that when you are most 
sincere and zealous, you will meet with the 
greatest opposition. Let not this discourage 
you. He that proclaims war against hell 
must expect hell's rage. 

11. Let the ignorance of others instruct 
you to be ashamed of their defects ; the wise 
to be emulous of their virtues ; the haughty 
to be meek ; the avaricious to be benevo- 
lent ; the indolent to be diligent ; the dis- 
dainful to be kind and affectionate to all; 
the testy and clownish to be patient and 
gentle. There is one enemy I would, above 
all, have you, if possible, keep at a distance. 
It is not the devil ; he cannot hurt you un- 
less you first hurt yourself. It is not your 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 191 

own heart, though that is sufficiently deceit- 
ful of itself to destroy you ; and therefore 
you must pray mightily to God, to give you 
a constant victory over inordinate self-love. 
It is, then, a self-conceited, ignorant, dog- 
matical, overbearing, affected, envious, whin- 
ing man, who would attempt to teach you, 
to dispute with you, or to inspire you with a 
contempt of self. If you will stand against 
such a fellow, and keep your temper with- 
out a blush, 1 5 U pronounce you not a philo- 
sopher, nor an able minister, but what is 
incomparably better than either, a Christian 
hero, who has conquered self. But when 
you find such persons — and they are by no 
means scarce — if you cannot run from 
them, I advise you to put a bridle on your 
tongue ; and while they beat you over the 
head and eyes, suffer in silence ; only lift 
up your heart to God for both yourself and 
them. 

12. In certain companies, you had bet- 
ter be taken for a fool than to have it sus- 
pected that you have the least confidence in 
your own judgment. Choose the former, 
therefore, in most cases when so circum- 
stanced ; for if you must suffer from such 



192 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

kind of beings, you may, by letting them 
think you a fool, save them from the sin of 
wilfully slandering you as such, because they 
are determined, right or wrong, that you 
shall never have the reputation of a wise 
man. 

13. If it should so come to pass in the 
course of your ministry, in consequence of 
a faithful discharge of its duties, that you 
should rise to eminence and celebrity, won- 
der not if the venom of envy should be shot 
at you. Think of Saul and David, Herod 
and his son, and a thousand others that 
might be named ; and do not deceive your- 
self with the belief that all who bear the 
Christian name are freed from this diaboli- 
cal passion. While you will sacrifice your 
judgment to the whims and fancies of those 
Sauls and Herods, court their favour when 
you ought to manifest a contempt at their 
contemptible dispositions ; while you offer 
up to them the incense of adulation at the 
expense of a good conscience, instead of 
asserting the just independence of a rational 
being ; and while you smile at their folly, 
and bow submission to their tyranny ; you 
may, as a matter of great condescension. 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 193 

meet the returns of good looks and words. 
I know not what advice to give you under 
such circumstances, except of a general 
character, and that is, whatever it may cost 
you, maintain the dignity of a man of God, 
and secure to yourself the reputation of an 
honest man in the estimation of those who 
know you, even though you should draw 
down on your head the thunder of all such 
haughty contemners of those excellences to 
which they despair of attaining. But if you 
should be so unfortunate as to be selected 
as an object of their displeasure, console 
yourself with the reflection that every man 
must be taxed in proportion to his property ; 
and having cheerfully discharged this debt, 
let them know that you have a treasure re- 
maining that cannot be touched by any hu- 
man hands, even " a conscience void of of- 
fence towards God and man." 

In regard to preaching, I have only to say, 

1. Select the leading idea in your text, 
and make that the subject matter of your 
sermon, and not mingle up every doctrine 
of the gospel in each sermon. 

2. Neither read nor memorize your ser- 



194 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

mons. Study all you can, write all you can, 
pray and meditate all you can, and you will 
not be at a loss for language to express your 
thoughts extemporaneously. Thus furnished, 
after maturing your subject, trust to your 
judgment, and not to memory. If a man of 
God, he will always help you by his Spirit. 

3. Take it for granted, that your hearers 
know something as well as yourself, and 
therefore do not fatigue them with long ser- 
mons, dwelling on points of little or no im- 
portance, which they have heard a thousand 
times. Compress your thoughts into as few 
words as possible, raid stop when you have 
done. Long sermons do no good by their 
length. 

4. " Don't court a grin when you should 
woo a soul." Gravity is as essential as sin- 
cerity, to effect the objects of a gospel mi- 
nistry. Affectation being the companion of 
ignorance, renders the latter doubly dis- 
gusting. Diffidence may prevent you from 
saying all you know, but affectation will 
make what you do say appear as the off- 
spring of both pride and ignorance. 

5. Study to be good, and not to be great . 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 195 

If you must be great, let it be the effect of 
goodness, and the unavoidable consequence 
of a conscientious discharge of all your 
duties. 

6. Labour for God, and He will both 
help and reward you. You shall be fruitful 
in your own soul, and witness the beneficial 
results of your labours in others. 

In respect to your general deportment, 

1. Be serious and solemn. In your in- 
tercourse with families, do not entertain 
them with facetious anecdotes to excite 
laughter. " I have said of laughter it is 
mad." I have been tormented at being in 
company with some professed ministers, 
who, instead of inspiring respect for the 
character, by grave and religious conversa- 
tion, have disgraced themselves by a perpe- 
tual round of trite and trifling remarks, per- 
haps even boasting of their dexterity in 
making a bargain, not knowing that these 
very exploits of which they boasted, evinced 
the disgusting frivolity of their minds. Never 
descend to this abominable trash. 

2. Make the children of the families 
where you visit bless you, by kindly noticing- 



196 LETTERS TO YOUNG 

every one of them, giving a word of instruc- 
tion suited to their age and capacities, not 
forgetting them in your prayers. Never un- 
necessarily censure a child. And remember 
that they are children, and therefore you do 
not expect the wisdom and propriety of age 
and experience in them. 

3. Never reprove a parent in the presence 
of his child, a husband in presence of his 
wife, and vice versa, unless it be for some 
crime that is notorious and flagrant; and 
even then it should, if possible, be concealed 
from each other ; at least you ought not to 
reveal it to them. 

4. Eat such things as are set before you, 
not affecting a delicacy of appetite, as though 
you belonged to another race of beings. You 
may recommend, both by precept and ex- 
ample, cleanliness ; but do not needlessly 
put any one to pain. 

5. Be kind and affable to all ; respectful 
to the aged, and to all in office, whether 
civil, military, or ecclesiastical ; condescend- 
ing to inferiors, instructing the ignorant, 
communicative with the well informed, bear- 
ing with the foibles of youth, and commise- 



MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. 197 

rating to those in servitude. He that is 
greatest must be servant of all. 

6. Avoid that most fruitless and unprofit- 
able of all ministerial traffic, foolish chit 
chat. 

7. You hint about marriage. You will 
doubtless marry. If you think it most for 
the glory of God — and few ever thought 
otherwise — fix on a suitable person, and 
have done with it. Do not pay your ad- 
dresses to half a dozen or more at once. 
Never thus trifle with their affections and 
your own. Piety, good sense, and industry 
in a wife, are essential to conjugal happi- 
ness. When married, let not your wife 
govern either yourself or the church. God 
has made you the head ; and if you are not 
qualified for the station, it is her misfortune, 
and therefore she must submit to it with 
patience. 

8. You wish to do all the good you can. 
Call to your aid, therefore, every auxiliary 
in your power. Circulate good books. Our 
plan of printing and circulating religious 
books, is admirably calculated to aid the 
minister in his work. Let it be known that 



198 LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS. 

you do not do this on account of the profits 
of sale. A just suspicion of this motive 
will destroy your dignity and usefulness. 
But if you do it from the same motive with 
which you preach the gospel, namely, to save 
souls, you will benefit both yourself and those 
to whom you sell them. Do not, therefore, 
affect the merchant, nor suffer yourself to be 
a pack horse for every mercenary man, who 
merely wishes to make you a bridge over 
which he may walk to the land of opulence. 
Take the Magazine, and read the Mission- 
ary Intelligence to the congregation, and 
then recommend it to them ; and make your- 
self acquainted with the contents of our 
books, that you may recommend them from 
a knowledge of their merits ; and thus teach 
them the necessity and utility of a continual 
acquisition of Christian knowledge. This is 
so far from being incompatible with your 
character as a minister of Christ, that I can- 
not see how you can discharge your duty in 
striving to do all the good you can, by 
neglecting this work. 

THE END 



Pag€ 

Preface . 3 

LETTER I. 

Some General Remarks on the Importance and 
Utility of Study, for a successful Discharge of 
Ministerial Duty 9 

LETTER II. 

The Method by which a Minister is enabled to ex- 
plain the Holy Scriptures 15 

LETTER III. 

The Studies requisite to enable one to defend the 
Holy Scriptures 19 

LETTER IV. 

Chronology, Prophecy, and Miracles 31 

LETTER V. 
Geography 43 

LETTER VI. 
Internal Testimony 52 

LETTER VII. 
Biography 66 

% LETTER VIII. 

Philosophy — Natural and Moral 78 

LETTER IX. 
Rhetoric, or Pulpit Oratory 90 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

LETTER X. 
Poetry 101 

LETTER XI. 

Use of Studying the Languages 118 

LETTER XII. 
Verbal Criticism 140 

LETTER XIII. 

The Church — its government — doctrines — duties 
and powers of the Ministry — rights of its mem- 
bers — its ordinances, &c 154 

LETTER XIV. 

Some General Remarks in regard to the manner 
in which Books should be consulted 167 

LETTER XV. 
Concluding Observations 175 

Letter to a Junior Preacher. . . . 187 



WJAR8 1907 



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